p4:?i 


^^t-J 


^^^^^-' 


V 


*   JUN16  19U   *; 


Divisioa  "bSl  IT  I 
Section      i'     -^'t 


THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 


THE  GREAT  EPIC 
OF  ISRAEL 


THE  WEB  OF  MYTH,  LEGEND,  HISTORY,  LAW, 

ORACLE,  WISDOM  AND  POETRY  OF 

THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 


JUN  16  191 

AMOS  KIDDER  FISKE,  A.M. 

AUTHOR  OF  "  THE  MYTHS  OF  ISRAEL,"  "  MIDNIGHT  TALKS  AT  THB 
CLUB,"  "BEYOND  THE  BOURN,"  ETC.,  ETC. 


STURGIS  &  WALTON 

COMPANY 
1911 

All  rights  reserved 


Copyright  1911 
By  STURGIS  &  WALTON  COMPANY 

Set  up  and  electrotyped.    Published  February,  ign 


TO  HIS  DEVOTED  WIFE 

CAROLINE  CHILD  FISKE 

THE  AUTHOR  DEDICATES  THIS  VOLUME 


PREFACE 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  volume  to  encourage 
a  revival  of  the  reading  or  study  of  the  ancient 
Scriptures  of  the  Jews,  not  by  scholars  or  those 
who  make  a  professional  use  of  them,  but  by  the 
people  at  large.  To  this  generation  they  have 
as  a  whole  become  unattractive  and  fallen  into 
neglect,  except  for  a  conventional  and  enforced 
respect,  on  account  of  the  false  light  in  which  they 
have  been  left  for  so  many  centuries.  The  pres- 
ent object  is  to  put  them  in  their  true  light  and 
give  them  a  new  interest  for  the  modern  man. 

The  common  intelligence  will  no  longer  accept 
the  dogma  that  they  are  divine  revelation,  except 
as  divine  revelation  is  to  be  traced  in  all  human 
development;  or  that  they  are  the  specially  in- 
spired word  of  God  and  contain  in  all  parts  infal- 
lible truth,  to  be  unquestioningly  accepted,  for 
the  common  intelligence  has  come  to  know  better. 
It  has  been  taught  to  discriminate  and  to  apply 
reason,  and  its  liberty  is  not  to  be  excluded  from 
this  one  field.  All  truth  may  be  accounted  di- 
vine, all  great  thoughts  and  noble  sentiments  may 
be  regarded  as  inspired,  but  no  more  in  this  liter- 
ature than  in  others,  ancient  and  modern.     The 

vii 


viii  PREFACE 

voice  of  God  did  not  vociferate  in  one  small  coun-, 
try  for  a  few  centuries  and  then  fall  into  silence. 
The  spirit  of  God  did  not  inform  men  in  that  one 
place  and  time  and  then  withdraw  itself  to  the  re- 
mote bounds  of  the  universe.  It  was  and  is  and 
will  be  from  everlasting  to  everlasting  and  forever 
the  same,  in  all  time  and  place,  and  it  pervades 
all  life. 

The  author  pretends  to  no  new  discovery. 
What  he  has  to  say  is  derived  from  the  researches 
of  many  scholars  who  have  wrought  with  growing 
assiduity  and  with  increasing  light  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  past  century.  The  results  are 
known  to  teachers  and  preachers,  who  still  shrink 
from  teaching  and  preaching  the  truth  freely  and 
candidly,  as  some  at  least  of  them  know  it  to  be. 
Current  theology  and  divinity  are  too  much  under 
the  duress  of  old  dogma  to  speak  out.  The  lore 
of  scholars  is  open  to  those  who  choose  to  study 
it,  but  for  the  most  part  it  is  too  detailed,  too  ar- 
gumentative, too  heavy  or  too  dry,  for  the  com- 
mon reader,  and  it  works  slowly  through  a  reluc- 
tant clergy  and  an  unlearned  laity. 

The  present  writer  is  under  no  bonds.  He  has 
no  fear  or  shrinking.  He  loves  the  truth  and  de- 
sires to  spread  it  abroad,  knowing  that  only  good 
can  come  of  the  light,  while  darkness  harbors 
much  that  is  evil.  It  is  not  originality  that  he 
professes,  but  independence,  not  special  ability, 
but  the  dower  of  common  sense  and  a  capacity 


PREFACE  IX 

for  setting  forth  clearly  what  he  learns  and  thinks, 
to  be  "  understanded  of  the  people."  It  is  from 
interest  that  he  has  studied  this  subject,  and  he 
writes  in  the  hope  of  exciting  interest  in  others  and 
contributing  to  the  spread  of  knowledge  of  the 
truth  as  it  is  revealed  through  human  experience. 
He  does  not  encumber  his  pages  by  citing  authori- 
ties or  dealing  with  controversy,  having  only  room 
to  give  results  as  sifted  and  judged  by  himself. 
But  the  fruits  of  long  and  varied  research  and  all 
the  references  that  may  be  desired,  to  a  recent 
date,  are  stored  in  the  "  Encyclopaedia  Biblica," 
to  which  all  are  directed  for  details,  reasons  and 
conclusions.  Comparatively  little  has  been  added 
since  its  publication. 

Nothing  could  be  farther  from  the  writer's  wish 
than  to  impair  or  undermine  the  foundations  of 
religious  faith.  To  be  abiding  these  must  be  of 
truth  and  they  must  rest  upon  knowledge  and  rea- 
son, as  they  are  revealed  to  man  in  his  progress 
onward  and  upward.  Unlike  material  piling 
they  must  be  kept  sound  not  by  being  buried 
In  darkness  and  dampness,  but  by  being  exposed 
to  light  and  air.  Judaism,  like  other  religions, 
consecrated  its  Scriptures.  Christianity  borrowed 
from  both  Judaism  and  heathenism  in  framing  its 
dogmas,  and  it  accepted  the  consecration  of  the 
Jewish  Scriptures  for  the  sake  of  these.  But  Ju- 
daism has  advanced,  and  Christianity  has  ad- 
vanced, in  spite  of  clinging  to  outworn   dogmas 


X  PREFACE 

and  the  consecration  of  councils  in  dark  ages.  The 
church  still  needs  to  advance  and  to  preserve  all 
that  is  sacred  in  its  literature;  but  illumination  is 
the  test  of  sanctity.  No  mass  bound  up  in  past 
ages  is  all  sacred  nor  can  it  contain  all  that  is  sa- 
cred. It  should  be  tried  and  that  which  is  good 
should  be  held  fast. 

The  consecrated  writings  of  the  Jews  are  here 
treated  as  an  epic  of  the  people  of  Israel  in  their 
great  days.  Such  in  effect  they  really  are,  and 
they  are  so  presented  in  the  order  of  their  develop- 
ment for  better  understanding  and  greater  interest. 
The  chief  claim  to  originality  in  this  work  lies  in 
so  presenting  them.  The  author  hopes  it  will 
serve  its  desired  end  of  making  them  more  read, 
better  understood  and  more  profitable  to  the  soul 
of  man. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 
I 

The  Peculiar  People ^,..>.      3 

II 
Literary  Development  of  Israel 16 

III 
The  Making  of  the  Epic *     .     .    29 

IV 
The  Myths  of  Israel 44 

V 
Heroic  and  Historic  Legends 74 

VI 
David  and  Solomon 98 

VII 
Theocratic  Account  of  the  Two  Kingdoms  ....  120 

VIII 
Prophets  of  the  Kingdoms 158 

IX 
Prophets  of  the  Exile  and  After 192 


CONTENTS 

PAGK 

X 

The  Jewish  Law 229 

XI 
The  Priestly  History 253 

XII 

Illustrative  Tales,  Ruth,  Jonah,  Esther     ....  278 

XIII 
Lyrics,  Songs  and  Hymns 287 

XIV 
Wisdom  and  Philosophy     ............  305 

XY 
The  Book  of  Job 3^9 

XVI 
The  Book  of  Daniel 339 

XVII 
The  Great  Epic  in  Review 356 


THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 


THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF   ISRAEL 


THE   PECULIAR   PEOPLE 

The  most  remarkable  thing  In  what  we  call 
ancient  history  is  the  peculiar  Intellectual,  moral 
and  religious  development  of  a  small  people  who 
occupied  a  narrow  territory,  shut  In  from  the  Med- 
iterranean Sea,  on  the  pathway  between  the  great 
empire  of  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates  and  that 
of  the  Nile.  Compared  with  those  empires  the 
nation  formed  by  this  people  was  not  ancient,  and 
In  national  resources  and  power  it  was  utterly  In- 
significant. The  land  which  it  acquired  by  con- 
quest and  held  with  difficulty  had  long  before  been 
overrun  by  the  armies  of  Babylonia  and  Egypt, 
and  held  In  possession  by  one  or  the  other  of  those 
great  powers,  whose  civilisation  was  old  before 
Israel  was  born.  Records  and  inscriptions  dis- 
covered within  the  last  twenty-five  years  show  that 
Palestine  was  subject  to  Egypt  and  ruled  by  Its 
governors  as  late  as  1400  B.  C,  when  the  Nile 
region  had  been  a  seat  of  power,  learning  and  re- 
ligion for  more  than  two  thousand  years,  and  the 

3 


4        THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

land  of  the  Euphrates  had  been  its  rival  for  many 
centuries. 

In  a  fortunate  interval  of  quiescence  between 
these  great  "  world  powers,"  a  part  of  the  people 
who  became  known  as  Israel  escaped  from  a  con- 
dition of  servitude  and  oppression  within  the 
borders  of  Egypt,  and  made  their  way  through 
the  deserts  of  Arabia,  with  only  petty  tribes  native 
to  the  region  to  contend  with,  and  with  ac- 
cretions from  others  got  possession  of  a  strip 
of  territory  east  of  the  Jordan.  Lingering  there 
until  they  gained  cohesion  and  strength,  they  finally 
crossed  the  river  and  after  bloody  conflicts  with 
the  tribes  occupying  the  land  known  as  Canaan, 
and  in  later  times  as  Palestine,  succeeded  in  estab- 
lishing themselves  in  possession.  For  a  long  time 
their  hold  was  precarious.  Broken  into  tribes  or 
clans,  they  had  no  regularly  organized  government, 
and  when  attacked  by  hostile  neighbours,  as  they 
frequently  were,  they  depended  upon  leaders,  or 
*'  heroes,"  who  rose  to  command  them  in  battles 
of  defence  or  vengeance.  Finally,  when  they  had 
grown  sufficiently  in  numbers  and  in  strength,  and 
experience  had  taught  them  the  necessity  of  na- 
tional power,  with  civil  and  military  organisation, 
if  they  were  to  survive  and  flourish,  they  estab- 
lished a  kingdom,  a  little  more  than  i,ooo  years 
before  the  Christian  era.  In  the  meantime  they 
had  learned  much  from  their  strongest  neighbours, 
the  Philistines  and  the  Phoenicians,  especially  the 


THE  PECULIAR  PEOPLE  5 

latter,  with  whom  they  maintained  relations  of 
amity  while  the  former  were  their  bitter  enemies. 
Coming  from  beyond  the  river  they  were  called 
Hebrews  or  those  "  from  beyond."  They  adopted 
and  modified  the  language  of  the  conquered  Ca- 
naanltes,  borrowed  writing  from  the  Phoenicians 
and  some  time  after  the  establishment  of  the  king- 
dom developed  a  literature. 

Where  these  people  originally  came  from  Is  not 
certainly  known.  We  have  little  more  than  their 
own  traditions,  preserved  In  their  own  peculiar 
way,  to  guide  us  In  seeking  for  their  origin.  They 
were  probably  nomadic  tribes  of  Arabians,  akin 
to  the  Edomltes,  Moabltes  and  Ammonites,  which 
had  wandered  with  flocks  and  herds,  perhaps  to 
the  borders  of  the  Euphrates  Valley  and  to  the 
confines  of  Egypt,  and  some  of  which  In  a  time  of 
famine  had  been  kept  In  the  latter  country  until 
they  fell  into  a  state  of  servitude,  or  forced  labor, 
under  Its  rulers.  They  certainly  had  traditions 
of  escape  or  deliverance  from  this  servitude  and 
of  the  struggle  through  the  deserts  to  freedom, 
and  for  centuries  they  cherished  fear  and  hatred 
for  Egypt,  while  their  earliest  writers  took  pride 
in  giving  them  a  mythical  ancestry  in  the  Chal- 
dean Empire. 

It  was  a  century  and  more  after  the  kingdom 
was  established  and  some  time  after  it  had  been 
divided  by  the  tearing  away  of  the  larger  and 
more  flourishing  part  by  revolt  on  the  death  of  Sol- 


6        THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

omon,  that  the  remarkable  literary  development 
of  this  people  began.  Just  when  the  Hebrew  lan- 
guage took  form  In  writing  cannot  be  ascertained, 
but  like  all  primitive  peoples  Israel  preserved  its 
first  traditions  by  oral  transmission.  Like  others 
It  had  Its  myths  and  legends,  Its  tales  of  deliverers 
from  bondage  or  peril  and  of  heroes  In  warfare, 
and  these  were  chanted  In  songs  or  narrated  In 
stories  from  generation  to  generation  until  they 
became  a  common  stock  of  material  for  coming 
writers.  Like  all  ancient  people  also,  It  had  Its 
religion.  Its  conception  of  deity  and  his  relation 
to  man,  and  In  regard  to  this  Its  most  striking 
peculiarity  appears. 

In  spite  of  successive  versions  during  several 
centuries,  the  mass  of  literature  which  constitutes 
the  great  epic  of  Its  national  life  still  contains 
traces  of  a  time  when  It  shared  with  other  early 
races  a  belief  in  many  gods  representing  the  pow- 
ers of  nature.  Its  designation  for  the  deity,  Elo- 
him,  Is  a  plural  and  a  relic  of  that  time.  One  of 
the  most  ancient  fragments  embedded  In  Its  liter- 
ature speaks  of  the  "  Sons  of  God  "  who  had  con- 
verse with  the  daughters  of  men  and  begat  giants 
and  men  of  renown,  after  the  manner  of  other  old 
mythologies.  The  use  of  the  word  "  Sons  of 
God  "  here  Is  equivalent  to  "  Gods,''  as  "  Sons  of 
prophets "  was  used  to  designate  members  of 
schools  or  coteries  of  prophets,  "  Children  of  Is- 
rael "  or  of  Moab  was  used  for  Israelites  or  Mo- 


THE  PECULIAR  PEOPLE  7 

abites,  and  "  Sons  of  men  "  had  the  same  mean- 
ing as  men.  Another  ancient  fragment,  properly 
translated,  speaks  of  wine  as  cheering  gods  and 
men,  and  there  is  also  a  relic  of  the  old  polythe- 
istic faith  in  the  myth  of  the  Garden  of  Eden 
where  '*  the  Lord  God  "  is  represented  as  saying 
of  Adam,  "  the  man  is  become  as  one  of  us  to 
know  good  and  evil." 

In  the  early  patriarchal  stories  and  the  legends 
of  heroes  the  deity,  originally  a  tribal  god  called  by 
the  name  of  Yahweh,  ("Jehovah"),  was  some- 
times represented  as  appearing  on  the  earth  in  the 
form  of  a  man.  He  was  evidently  conceived  of 
in  this  guise  in  the  Eden  myth  when  he  "  walked 
in  the  garden  In  the  cool  of  the  day  "  and  talked 
with  Adam.  In  this  guise  he  appeared  and  talked 
with  Abram  under  the  Oaks  of  Mamre  while  on 
his  way  to  Sodom  to  ascertain  if  Its  iniquity  was  as 
bad  as  it  had  been  reported  to  be.  Sometimes  he 
Is  represented  as  sending  an  "  angel,"  or  mes- 
senger, who  was  a  kind  of  similitude  of  his  own  per- 
sonality, as  in  the  case  of  the  "  angel  of  God  " 
who  appeared  to  the  mother  of  Samson  and  prom- 
ised the  child's  birth.  Again  In  the  Jacob  myth 
he  Is  described  as  testing  that  personage  by  wrest- 
ling with  him  all  night  and  giving  him  a  new  name. 
There  are  other  instances  of  his  appearing  in  the 
guise  of  a  human  being,  but  in  later  conceptions 
he  became  Invisible,  and  the  sight  of  him  was  sup- 
posed to  be  dangerous,   if  not  fatal.     Moses   Is 


8        THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

represented  as  being  vouchsafed  a  look  at  his  back 
after  he  had  passed  by  while  the  hand  of  the  god 
covered  the  man  as  he  stood  in  a  cleft  of  the  rock. 
Often  he  is  described  as  speaking  to  man  while 
he  remained  himself  Invisible,  and  often  as  man- 
ifesting his  presence  in  fire,  or  light  or  darkness 
or  some  natural  phenomenon. 

In  the  mixture  of  tradition,  legend  and  myth 
connected  with  the   escape   or   deliverance    from 
Egypt,  this  deity  is  represented  as  peculiarly  the 
God  of  Israel  and  as  having  his  abode  on  Mount 
Sinai,  or  Horeb,  where  he  awaited  his  time  for 
rescuing  the  people  from  their  bondage.     He  had 
no  relation  to  the  rest  of  mankind  except  as  a 
mighty  enemy  to  those  who  were  enemies  of  his 
people.     They  had  their  own  gods,  whose  reality 
and  whose  rights  In  their  own  domain  were  not 
disputed.     It  was  as  the  God  only  of  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob  and  of  their  descendants  that  he 
appeared  to  Moses  and  through  him  and  Aaron 
inflicted  the  plagues  upon  Egypt  and  brought  his 
people  out  with   a    "  mighty   hand   and   an   out- 
stretched arm,"   divided  the  waters  of  the  Red 
Sea  and  guided  them  In  cloud  and  flame,  while  the 
Egyptian   armies   were   overwhelmed.     Here   he 
was  a  god  of  craft  and  not  of  justice,  so  far  as 
any  but  his  own  people  were  concerned,  a  god  of 
severity  and  anger  with  his  own  people  when  they 
disobeyed    his    commands    given    through    their 
leader,  a  god  of  battles  and  vengeance  In  conflict 


THE  PECULIAR  PEOPLE  9 

with  their  enemies.  He  appears  in  clouds  and 
thunder  and  lightning  on  Mount  Sinai  to  fulmin- 
ate his  laws  through  Moses.  In  the  Song  of 
Deborah  in  the  time  of  the  "  Judges,"  which  is 
older  than  these  myths  and  legends  of  the  "  Ex- 
odus," his  dwelling  place  is  supposed  to  be  on 
Mount  Sinai,  and  he  comes  from  there  careering 
over  the  mountains  in  storm  clouds  to  rescue  his 
people  from  the  army  of  Sisera. 

Such  a  conception  of  deity  is  as  mythical  as  that 
of  other  ancient  peoples.  The  tribal  god  Yahweh 
had  dwelt  in  the  mountain  fastnesses  and  guarded 
and  guided  his  people,  inspiring  them  with  fear 
and  communicating  his  commands  through  those 
who  assumed  to  be  his  servants  or  his  spokesmen, 
and  who  doubtless  believed  themselves  to  be  such. 
He  had  the  characteristics  of  an  unseen  despot  and 
was  the  ideal  of  a  mighty  ruler  in  a  barbarous  age. 
He  was  placated  not  only  by  humble  submission, 
but  by  offerings  and  sacrifices,  the  more  precious 
the  more  acceptable  and  prevailing.  There  are 
traces  of  evidence  that  In  the  earliest  days  these 
extended  to  the  sacrifice  of  children  in  the  wor- 
ship of  Yahweh  as  in  that  of  Baal  and  of  Che- 
mosh.  There  is  a  vestige  of  this  in  the  story 
of  Jephthah  and  his  daughter,  and  the  myth  of  the 
offering  of  Isaac  on  Mount  Morlah  was  symbol- 
ical of  the  substitution  of  the  choicest  animals  for 
the  highest  pledge  of  devotion.  Until  late  in  the 
history  of  the  two  Kingdoms  there  was  little  dif- 


lo      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

ference  between  the  common  worship  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Israel,  at  their  various  shrines  away  from 
the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  and  that  of  the  heathen 
around  them,  and  sometimes  the  very  sanctuary 
of  "  the  Lord  "  on  Mount  Zion  was  invaded  by 
pagan  abominations.  They  had  images  of  Yah- 
weh,  and  their  priests  practised  divination,  and 
there  were  times  when  there  was  such  a  relapse 
that  children  again  "  passed  through  fire  "  in  the 
Valley  of  the  Sons  of  Hinnom. 

Midway  in  the  history  of  the  Kingdoms  a  re- 
markable evolution  took  place  in  the  religious  and 
ethical  conceptions  of  this  people.  Their  seers 
and  diviners  developed  into  a  class  of  teachers 
which  through  translation  acquired  the  title  of 
"  prophets,"  though  the  original  had  not  the  mean- 
ing commonly  implied  by  that  term.  The  transi- 
tion was  not  so  abrupt  as  it  appears  In  their  epic 
literature,  for  the  latter  was  modified  by  revision 
to  conform  to  later  ideas.  The  Influence  of  the 
prophet  appears  to  have  first  become  potent  in  set- 
ting up  and  guiding  the  earliest  King,  Saul;  but 
Samuel  seems  to  have  retained  much  of  the  char- 
acter of  the  ancient  priest  and  diviner,  and  to  have 
been  transformed  In  the  later  accounts  of  the 
period.  Nathan,  the  mentor  and  monitor  of 
David,  spoke  to  the  King  In  the  name  of  Yah- 
weh,  but  disguised  his  reproaches  In  the  form  of 
parable.  At  that  time  the  deity  was  still  repre- 
sented by  Images  and  consulted  by  mechanical  de- 


THE  PECULIAR  PEOPLE  ii 

vices.  Solomon,  notwithstanding  his  worldliness 
and  his  yielding  to  heathen  enticement,  was  as- 
sumed by  the  chroniclers  of  a  later  time  to  be  so 
endowed  with  wisdom  that  he  needed  no  prophet. 
It  is  probable  that  no  one  had  the  temerity  to 
act  in  that  capacity  with  so  mighty  a  potentate  in 
his  little  realm;  but  one  appeared  to  encourage  a 
revolt  against  him  and  to  represent  by  symbolical 
action  the  tearing  away  of  the  better  part  of  the 
kingdom  and  the  setting  up  of  a  rival  monarchy 
under  the  leader  of  the  revolt,  Jeroboam  the  Son 
of  Nebat. 

It  was  well  along  in  the  turbulent  history  of  the 
new  Kingdom  of  Israel,  when  an  alliance  of  its 
King,  Ahab,  with  the  royal  house  of  Phoenicia 
threatened  a  lapse  from  the  worship  of  Yahweh 
to  that  of  Baal  and  Ashtoreth,  or  Astarte,  that 
the  spirit  of  prophetism  was  aroused  to  an  ardent 
defence  of  the  national  God  and  his  worship,  the 
loss  of  which  would  mean  the  abandonment  and 
destruction  of  the  nation.  There  is  little  evidence 
that  the  character  of  the  worship  in  the  northern 
Kingdom  then  differed  materially  from  that  of 
the  neighbouring  peoples  of  Phoenicia  and  Syria 
or  the  Canaanite  tribes,  or  that  the  ethical  standard 
had  greatly  improved,  when  the  legendary  figure 
of  Elijah  appeared  in  the  conflict  against  a  relapse 
to  heathenism.  The  reality  behind  that  misty  fig- 
ure was  a  fiery  champion  of  the  national  religion 
and  of  the  mighty  god  to  whom  the  people  owed 


12      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

their  deliverance  from  Egypt,  the  possession  of  the 
land  which  they  had  Inherited  from  mythical  an- 
cestors with  whom  that  god  had  made  a  compact 
of  mutual  fidelity.  Ellsha,  who  carried  on  the 
contest  when  the  house  of  Ahab  was  slaughtered 
and  the  kingdom  was  In  dangerous  conflict  with 
Syria,  is  scarcely  less  legendary  and  obscured  in 
the  mists  of  history;  and  there  is  still  little  sign 
of  the  higher  ethical  and  religious  spirit  that  was 
about  to  develop. 

This  first  appeared,  so  far  as  its  authentic  ut- 
terance has  been  preserved,  in  Amos,  a  herdsman 
of  Judah,  who  went  to  the  chief  shrine  of  the 
Northern  Kingdom  at  Bethel  to  utter  his  solemn 
rebukes  and  impressive  warnings.  The  shadows 
of  conflict  with  hostile  powers  of  the  north  and 
east  were  then  impending,  and  in  the  prophet's 
mind  the  only  hope  of  escape  was  In  renewed 
fidelity  and  devotion  to  the  God  of  Israel  and 
obedience  to  his  commands.  Now  the  national 
offence  took  on  a  moral  character.  It  consisted  In 
the  wickedness  and  injustice  of  the  time,  the  in- 
iquities of  the  people  and  their  rulers.  The  com- 
mands of  God  were  not  for  sacrifices  and  burnt 
offerings,  or  vain  oblations  and  feast  days,  but 
for  justice  and  mercy  and  purity  of  life.  Therein 
was  that  obedience  and  devotion  in  which  alone  was 
safety  and  salvation  from  powerful  enemies. 
That  became  the  keynote  of  prophecy  from  that 


THE  PECULIAR  PEOPLE  13 

time,  the  fundamental  principle  in  the  constitution 
of  theocracy. 

And  the  doctrine  of  theocracy,  or  the  rule  of 
God,  became  the  loftiest  article  of  political  faith 
of  the  "  peculiar  people,"  the  constant  and  Impres- 
sive burden  of  their  great  epic,  which  has  rolled 
down  the  centuries  from  that  day  to  this.  Other 
nations  believed  that  their  gods  ruled  In  the  af- 
fairs of  men,  but  their  conceptions  were  rude  and 
barbaric  In  comparison  with  those  of  the  prophets 
of  Israel,  in  whom  the  highest  genius  of  the  nation 
found  expression.  In  them  the  conception  of 
Israel's  God  was  exalted  and  purified.  He  was 
the  God  of  justice,  of  righteousness,  of  mercy,  of 
love  for  those  who  obeyed  him  and  severity  for 
those  who  were  disobedient  and  rebellious.  While 
Israel  was  still  his  peculiar  care,  he  was  above  all 
Gods  and  all  nations  and  peoples.  They  were 
subject  to  his  will  and  were  u^ed  to  serve  his  pur- 
poses. He  was  the  creator  of  heaven  and  earth 
and  of  all  mankind,  but  he  had  chosen  this  one 
people  for  his  own  and  would  preserve  It  for- 
ever. He  would  use  others  to  chastise  It  when  it 
went  wrong  and  to  correct  Its  evil  tendencies;  he 
might  even  destroy  It  as  a  nation,  but  he  would 
surely  redeem  a  purified  and  righteous  remnant 
and  restore  the  Kingdom  of  ZIon  with  a  reunited 
Israel,  which  should  grow  In  power  and  finally 
bring  all  the  earth  under  Its  sway. 


14      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

This  was  the  sublime  doctrine  of  theocracy 
which  developed  through  the  great  prophets  and 
survived  all  disasters.  The  destruction  of  Samaria 
by  Assyria  and  of  Jerusalem  by  Babylon  could  not 
extinguish  it.  It  was  In  part  the  effect  and  in  part 
the  cause  of  the  chief  characteristic  of  the  peculiar 
people,  an  enormous  pride  of  race,  an  overweening 
sense  of  superiority,  a  potent  national  conscious- 
ness, out  of  all  proportion  to  the  nation's  magni- 
tude or  material  power.  Nor  was  this  without 
foundation  in  the  genius  of  the  people,  which  rose 
In  moral,  if  not  Intellectual  altitude,  far  above, 
not  only  the  surrounding  people  with  which  they 
came  into  immediate  comparison,  but  the  vast  em- 
pires by  which  they  were  finally  overwhelmed  and 
subdued  though  not  extinguished,  scattered  but  not 
trodden  out.  It  was  this  Indomitable  self-asser- 
tion that  enabled  them  to  weld  their  literature,  ex- 
cept what  they  chose  to  reject,  Into  one  sublime 
epic  which  they  stamped  as  divine  In  Its  origin  and 
as  sacred  in  its  character,  and  Imposed  upon  a  large 
part  of  the  world  at  their  own  valuation  "  even 
unto  this  day."  Their  promises  were  unfulfilled, 
their  hopes  were  disappointed,  their  nation  was 
destroyed,  they  were  scattered  over  the  face  of 
the  earth,  despised,  rejected  and  persecuted,  and 
yet  their  pride  of  race  was  never  extinguished, 
and  they  refused  to  be  effaced  as  a  peculiar  peo- 
ple, still  holding  that  the  God  of  Abraham  and 
Isaac  and  Jacob  was  the  ruler  of  the  world,  with 


THE  PECULIAR  PEOPLE  15 

a  special  love  for  the  race  with  which  he  made  an 
everlasting  covenant.  And  the  wonder  of  human 
history  Is  the  power  their  superior  pretension  has 
had  for  so  many  centuries  in  guarding  their 
"  sacred  "  literature,  as  a  holy  heritage  of  man- 
kind, from  the  calm  analysis  to  which  all  other 
ancient  literature  has  been  subjected,  and  sealing  it 
against  the  judgment  of  human  reason. 


II 

LITERARY  DEVELOPMENT   OF   ISRAEL 

What  may  properly  be  called  literary  develop- 
ment did  not  begin  among  the  people  of  Israel 
until  after  the  victories  of  David  had  established 
the  kingdom,  and  it  made  little  progress  before 
the  prosperous  reign  of  Solomon  was  over.  It 
gained  its  first  real  impetus  in  the  Northern  King- 
dom after  the  division  into  two  rival  realms,  of 
which  that  was  at  first  the  more  powerful  and 
flourishing,  and  the  more  progressive.  Though 
Solomon  had  established  a  relation  of  amity  with 
Egypt  and  taken  a  daughter  of  the  reigning 
Pharaoh  as  one  of  his  many  wives,  when  Jeroboam 
headed  a  revolt  against  the  King's  oppressive  treat- 
ment of  the  people  of  the  proud  tribe  of  Ephraim 
he  fled  to  that  country  and  was  evidently  treated 
with  consideration  by  its  ruler.  It  is  probable  that 
he  brought  back  much  of  the  tradition  and  the 
lore  which  were  afterwards  used  in  the  early  lit- 
erature of  his  kingdom.  He  or  some  companion 
of  his  may  have  been  the  real  person  most  versed 
in  the  "  learning  of  the  Egyptians  "  at  that  time. 

Long  before,  no  doubt,  there  had  been  an  oral 
literature   in  the  customary   form  of  songs   and 

i6 


LITERARY  DEVELOPMENT         17 

chants,  of  legends  and  mythical  tales,  and  many  of 
these  were  first  reduced  to  writing  in  the  time  of 
David  and  Solomon.  Two  collections  are  re- 
ferred to  by  the  titles,  the  *'  Book  of  the  Wars 
of  Yahweh  '^  and  the  "  Book  of  the  Upright," 
and  some  scraps  from  each  were  preserved,  with 
Indications  that  they  furnished  the  groundwork  of 
later  narratives.  David's  lament  over  the  death 
of  Saul  and  Jonathan  Is  said  to  have  been  taught 
to  the  people  and  afterwards  enbalmed  In  the 
*'  Book  of  the  Upright,"  which  indicates  that  the 
written  form  was  later  than  David's  time.  Solo- 
mon's speech  at  the  dedication  of  the  temple  is 
believed  by  some  to  have  found  a  place  in  the 
same  repository.  Hebrew  poetry,  of  which  the 
chief  rhythmical  characteristic  was  a  repetition  or 
variation  of  expression  called  *'  parallelism,"  had 
evidently  a  considerable  development  before  It  was 
ever  reduced  to  writing.  The  "  Song  of  De- 
borah "  at  the  victory  over  Sisera  Is  the  earliest 
example  preserved  and  though  sadly  mutilated  in 
the  process  it  Is  a  veritable  antique  gem.  What 
Is  called  the  "  Blessing  of  Jacob  "  near  the  end  of 
the  Book  of  Genesis,  which  sets  forth  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  tribes  under  personal  names,  In 
the  semblance  of  what  Is  not  altogether  a  *'  bless- 
ing," had  Its  origin  before  the  division  of  the 
Kingdom,  but  not  earlier  than  the  peaceful  reign 
of  Solomon.  The  discourses  of  Balaam  in  the 
Book  of  Numbers,  which  have   a  similar  char- 


1 8      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

acter,  must  have  originated  at  about  the  same 
time.  Whatever  the  occasion  or  the  original 
authorship  of  these  productions,  they  were  quite 
independent  of  the  setting  In  which  they  are  now 
found. 

The  first  writers  had  not  only  the  advantage  of, 
a  rich  heritage  of  oral  literature,  but  they  un- 
doubtedly had  considerable  knowledge  of  the 
learning  of  Egypt,  the  art  of  Phoenicia  and  the 
wisdom  of  the  East.  Communication  by  caravan 
between  the  Euphrates  region  and  that  of  the  Nile 
through  Syria,  Israel  and  Phllistia  was  much  more 
common  than  we  have  been  accustomed  to  suppose, 
and  in  the  long  Interval  of  peace  In  which  Israel 
and  Judah  were  left  untroubled,  except  by  the  petty 
nations  close  about  them,  there  was  ample  oppor- 
tunity for  an  interchange  of  Influences.  The 
earliest  Hebrew  writings  which  were  preserved  in 
something  of  their  original  form  In  the  final  Scrip- 
ture of  the  Jews,  were  the  stories  of  the  heroes 
of  the  period  between  the  partial  conquest  of 
Canaan  and  the  founding  of  the  kingdom,  famil- 
iar to  us  by  the  title  of  "  Judges."  These  tales 
were  freely  handled  by  the  later  writers  who  made 
use  of  them  and  set  them  in  a  framework  of  their 
own,  but  they  retain  much  of  the  pristine  flavour. 
Appended  to  these  in  the  last  chapters  of  the 
Book  of  Judges  are  some  later  narratives  re- 
lating to  the  same  period  which  afford  a  vivid 
picture   of  life   In  the   primitive   days   when  the 


LITERARY  DEVELOPMENT         19 

"  Judges  "  were  supposed  to  have  "  judged."  A 
natural  sequence  to  the  hero  stories  were  the  first 
accounts  of  the  making  of  the  kings,  Saul  and 
David,  which  form  distinct  parts  of  the  books  bear- 
ing the  name  of  Samuel,  intermingled  with 
other  material  of  later  date. 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  the  Ninth  Century 
B.  C,  after  the  reign  of  Ahab  in  the  Northern 
Kingdom,  with  his  alliance  with  Phoenicia  and  his 
conflicts  with  Syria,  In  which  the  weird  figures 
of  the  prophets  Elijah  and  Ellsha  appear,  and 
when  Jehoshaphat  of  Judah  was  a  vassal  of  that 
kingdom,  that  the  first  attempt  was  made  to  form 
a  narrative  of  the  events  which  preceded  the  con- 
quest of  Canaan,  covering  the  escape  from  Egypt, 
the  struggle  through  the  deserts  and  the  battles 
by  which  land  was  won  first  east  of  the  Jordan 
and  then  between  it  and  the  Philistines,  extending 
north  to  the  Phoenician  and  Syrian  borders.  Pre- 
liminary to  this  was  the  effort,  common  to  all 
ancient  peoples  in  beginning  a  relation  of  their 
history,  to  account  for  their  origin,  which  was 
usually  attributed  to  a  mythical  ancestry,  and 
even  to  account  for  the  existence  of  mankind  in 
general  and  of  the  earth  itself.  Between  four  and 
five  centuries  had  then  passed  since  the  deliverance 
from  Egypt.  There  could  have  been  no  record 
of  the  events,  but  the  space  was  filled  with  tradi- 
tions and  memories,  some  of  them  embodied  by 
that  time  in  written  material.     How  the  people 


20      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

had  come  Into  Egypt  and  what  their  previous  his- 
tory had  been  was  probably  unknown  even  then, 
though  there  may  have  been  traditions  and  tales, 
extending  far  back  to  pastoral  days  before  the 
dark  period  of  servitude.  Of  the  origin  of  the 
world  and  of  the  human  race  there  could  be  only 
mythical  accounts,  which  had  to  be  either  borrowed 
or  Invented.  Of  knowledge  there  was  certainly 
none,  and  of  revelation  the  only  source  was  the 
human  Imagination  ungulded  by  science. 

What  material  existed  In  the  form  of  stories 
of  the  patriarchs  and  myths  of  the  creation  and 
primitive  man,  and  what  legends  of  Moses  and 
Joshua  may  have  been  already  written  down  Is 
only  a  matter  of  conjecture,  but  It  Is  well  estab- 
lished that  a  narrative  appeared  not  earlier  than 
the  middle  of  the  Ninth  Century  B.  C,  which  con- 
stituted one  of  the  main  sources  of  the  books  of 
the  Pentateuch  and  Joshua,  and  Is  known  to 
scholars  as  the  Yahwistic  source,  on  account  of  its 
common  use  of  the  name  Yahweh  for  the  deity. 
This  was  afterwards  retrenched  and  modified  and 
blended  with  another  document  of  like  character 
which  appeared  about  a  century  later,  known  as 
the  "  Elohlstlc  '^  source,  because  of  its  general 
use  of  Elohlm  to  designate  the  deity.  The  record 
of  which  these  form  the  main  material  underwent 
expansion  and  modification  afterward,  and  one  of 
the  latest  of  Its  parts  Is  the  Impressive  chapter 


LITERARY  DEVELOPMENT         21 

with  which  it  begins  giving  an  account  of  the  crea- 
tion. 

The  earlier  of  the  two  main  documents  referred 
to  above  contained  the  first  nucleus  of  the  written 
law  of  Israel,  which  was  afterwards  developed  to 
constitute  one  of  the  main  elements  of  the  great 
epic  that  was  to  be  completed  centuries  later. 
It  was  a  brief  codification  of  what  had  apparently 
become  the  customary  requirements  and  prohibi- 
tions of  a  primitive  state  of  society.  It  was  called 
the  "  Book  of  the  Covenant,"  and  was  said  to  have 
been  read  by  Moses  "  in  the  audience  of  the  peo- 
ple "  at  Mount  Sinai,  and  to  have  been  commu- 
nicated to  him  by  Yahweh  himself  on  the  top  of 
the  mountain.  More  than  two  centuries  after  this 
was  embodied  in  the  "  Yahwistic  source,"  in  the 
time  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah  and  the  reign  of 
Josiah  of  Judah,  nearly  a  century  after  the  de- 
struction of  the  Northern  Kingdom  by  Assyria,  an 
event  occurred  which  not  only  gave  a  new  develop- 
ment to  the  law,  but  a  new  color  to  all  the  quasi- 
historical  material  in  the  great  epic.  That  was  the 
discovery  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  of  a  "  book 
of  the  law,"  which  aimed  at  a  suppression  of 
heathen  practices  in  the  worship  of  Yahweh  and 
the  concentration  of  that  worship  at  the  temple  in 
Jerusalem,  to  counteract  the  tendency  to  lapse  into 
*'  heathenism  "  which  beset  the  people.  It  was  in- 
tended to  support  the  doctrine  of  the  theocracy  as 


22      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

that  had  already  been  developed  by  the  prophets. 
The  substance  of  this  with  later  additions  Is  con- 
tained in  the  book  known  as  Deuteronomy. 

The  highest  development  of  the  genius  of  Israel 
was  reached  In  the  prophets,  under  the  stimulus  of 
events  which  preceded  and  followed  the  destruc- 
tion of  Samaria  by  the  Assyrians,  B.  C.  722,  and 
those  which  similarly  attended  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  586,  B.  C,  by  the  Babylonians  under 
Nebuchadrezzar,  and  the  exile  of  the  leading 
spirits  of  the  Kingdom  of  Judah  to  the  land  of  the 
conquerors.  These  prophets  were  the  great 
champions  and  orators  of  the  theocracy.  Some 
of  their  productions  were  undoubtedly  delivered 
orally  and  addressed  to  the  kings  and  rulers  or  to 
assemblies  of  the  people,  and  afterwards  written 
down  and  elaborated  by  themselves  or  others. 
Some  were  labored  compositions,  containing 
highly  wrought  rhythmical  passages  and  poetical 
imagery.  In  their  final  collection  some  of  them 
were  ill-arranged  and  sadly  marred  by  excision  and 
interpolation.  They  contained  predictions  and 
warnings,  such  as  other  political  orators  of  an- 
tiquity were  wont  to  utter,  some  of  which  were 
justified  by  events  while  others  were  not.  They 
are  not  wholly  free  from  evidence  of  having  been 
made  by  copyists  and  editors  to  conform  to  events 
after  these  had  happened. 

The  earliest  of  the  Hebrew  prophets  whose  im- 
pressive oracles  are  preserved  in  the  Great  Epic 


LITERARY  DEVELOPMENT         23 

was  Amos,  that  Judahlte  herdsman  who  was  Im- 
pelled to  go  Into  the  Northern  Kingdom  In  the 
time  of  Jeroboam  II,  about  760  B.  C,  to  denounce 
the  Iniquities  which  threatened  to  bring  the  wrath 
of  Yahweh  upon  that  land,  doomed  to  destruction 
less  than  forty  years  later.  The  greatest  was 
Isaiah,  who  rose  at  Jerusalem  when  Samaria  was 
undergoing  Its  final  agony  and  ZIon  Itself  was 
menaced  by  an  Assyrian  army  under  Sennacherib. 
Other  voices  were  raised  during  the  same  period, 
but  under  the  long  reign  of  Manasseh  there  was 
a  reaction  against  the  stern  theocracy  of  the 
prophets,  and  comparative  silence.  Then,  under 
Joslah  and  his  successors,  when  Judah's  life  was 
again  threatened  from  the  East,  appeared  Jere- 
miah to  revive  with  fierce  ardour  the  preaching  of 
submission  to  the  God  of  Israel  and  reliance  upon 
his  power  for  the  salvation  of  the  nation.  But 
the  doom  of  Judah  was  not  averted.  In  the  exile 
itself  the  voice  of  prophecy  was  raised  by  the  rivers 
of  Babylon  in  the  oracles  of  Ezeklel.  He  spoke 
in  the  name  of  Yahweh  but  used  much  imagery 
and  symbolism  borrowed  from  the  heathen  land. 
Finally,  when  Cyrus  of  Persia  vanquished  Baby- 
lon and  permitted  the  captive  Jews  to  return  to 
their  beloved  ZIon  there  was  an  outburst  of  jubi- 
lation from  an  unknown  prophet  whose  utterances 
with  others  of  equally  unknown  origin,  became  at- 
tached to  those  of  Isaiah  in  the  book  bearing  his 
name. 


24      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

There  were  "  minor  prophets  "  contemporary 
with  these  and  others  of  a  later  date,  but  this  pe- 
cuhar  development  of  the  literary  genius  of  Israel 
reached  its  height  in  these,  and  overshadowed 
every  other  form  of  expression  for  more  than  two 
centuries.  The  epic  owes  more  of  its  greatness 
to  this  than  to  any  of  its  other  elements.  But 
other  elements  were  in  the  making  at  the  same 
time.  The  ancient  documents  relating  to  the  myth- 
ical and  legendary  period  before  the  Kingdom  was 
established  were  worked  over  with  some  infusion 
of  the  spirit  of  the  prophets  and  of  the  law  as 
It  found  expression  In  the  Deuteronomic  Code. 
This  was  the  spirit  of  theocracy,  which  taught  that 
all  trouble  or  disaster  of  the  nation  or  the  tribes 
was  due  to  the  sins  of  the  people  or  their  rulers 
In  worshipping  false  gods,  or  to  their  neglect  of 
the  worship  of  Yahweh  and  failure  to  obey  his 
commands.  It  is  evident  that  the  chief  literary 
treasures  of  the  Northern  Kingdom  were  trans- 
ferred to  Jerusalem  on  the  destruction  of  Samaria 
and  were  there  blended  with  those  of  Judah  In 
the  revision  of  ancient  narratives,  including  those 
relating  to  the  period  of  the  Judges  and  of  the 
first  Kings  Saul  and  David. 

The  first  kingdom  was  established  about  1020 
B.  C.  David  became  King  of  Judah  at  Hebron 
about  1000  B.  C,  probably  as  a  vassal  of  the 
Philistines,  and  a  few  years  later  established  him- 
self as  the  monarch  of  all  Israel  at  the  old  Jebu- 


LITERARY  DEVELOPMENT         25 

site  stronghold  on  Mount  Zion,  emancipated  him- 
self from  Philistine  subjection  and  extended  the 
borders  of  his  kingdom  by  subduing  the  hostile 
forces  that  surrounded  It,  maintaining  amicable  re- 
lations all  the  while  with  Phoenicia.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Solomon  about  970  B.  C,  at  the  end  of 
whose  reign,  in  933,  the  division  of  the  kingdom 
came.  An  independent  account  of  Solomon  and 
his  reign  appeared  not  long  after  his  death,  which 
became  the  groundwork  of  the  chapters  of  the 
first  Book  of  Kings  relating  to  him.  There  were 
annals  or  "  chronicles "  of  the  other  kings  of 
both  kingdoms,  which  some  believe  to  have  been 
combined  Into  one  great  book  after  the  destruction 
of  Samaria  and  not  long  before  the  siege  and  cap- 
ture of  Jerusalem.  This,  with  the  end  of  the 
David  stories,  the  account  of  Solomon's  reign  and 
some  legends  of  the  prophets  Elijah  and  Elisha, 
constituted  the  chief  material  of  the  two  books 
of  Kings  as  they  were  embalmed  in  the  Epic. 
These  were  compiled  in  their  earliest  form  be- 
fore the  fall  of  Jerusalem  and  revised  during  the 
exile.  There  was  much  literary  activity  among 
the  Jews  in  that  fifty  years  of  expatriation  at 
Babylon,  which  was  regarded  as  the  penalty  for 
recreancy  to  their  God. 

Literary  activity  continued  after  the  return  from 
exile  especially  In  elaborating  and  putting  in  final 
form  what  had  been  produced  before.  This  con- 
cerned Itself  largely  with  what  was  called  "  the 


26      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

law,'*  which  was  still  attributed  to  the  direct  com- 
mands of  Israel's  God  through  Moses  in  the  wild- 
erness of  Sinai.  Ezekiel,  who  was  originally  a 
priest,  had  in  his  latest  oracles,  written  after  the 
return  to  Jerusalem  was  assured,  outlined  the  fu- 
ture state  to  be  established,  with  Mount  Zion 
and  a  new  temple  as  its  centre,  and  within  this  out- 
line was  wrought  what  is  designated  by  scholars 
as  the  Law  of  Holiness.  Ezra,  another  priest, 
who  conducted  one  of  the  bodies  of  returning  exiles 
and  took  part  in  re-establishing  the  worship  and 
settling  the  ecclesiastical  polity  at  Jerusalem,  also 
drew  up  a  book  of  the  "  Law  of  Moses  "  which 
was  read  to  the  people.  Afterwards,  in  the 
priestly  circles  remaining  at  Babylon,  the  body  of 
Levitical  law  was  fully  developed,  with  a  quasi- 
historical  framework  of  its  own,  and  was  finally 
blended  with  other  material  in  the  redaction  of  the 
Pentateuch,  or  five  "  books  of  Moses,"  and  the 
Book  of  Joshua.  This  latest  code  furnished  the 
impressive  first  chapter  of  all  and  supplied  modify- 
ing traces  in  Genesis,  considerable  passages  in  Ex- 
odus, practically  all  of  Leviticus  and  passages  in 
Numbers.  There  is  little  of  it  in  Deuteronomy, 
but  it  reappears  in  material  passages  in  Joshua. 
Another  example  of  post-exilic  literary  activity  is 
the  entire  recasting  of  past  history  in  the  priestly 
spirit  as  It  appears  In  the  book  of  Chronicles, 
divided  In  modern  times,  like  the  Book  of  Kings, 
into  two. 


LITERARY  DEVELOPMENT         27 

What  may  be  called  the  framework  of  the  great 
epic  was  wrought  out  In  progressive  fashion  dur- 
ing a  period  of  five  centuries.  It  presents  more 
clearly  than  any  formal  and  systematic  history  the 
experience  and  the  polity  of  the  peculiar  people 
during  a  thousand  years,  escaping  as  a  horde  of 
fugitives  from  the  confines  of  Egypt,  struggling 
with  privation  and  manifold  difficulty  through  long 
stretches  of  desert  under  a  religious  leader,  fight- 
ing or  eluding  hostile  tribes  on  the  way,  gaining 
a  foothold  on  one  side  of  the  Jordan  and  gradually 
conquering  a  goodly  realm  on  the  other,  establish- 
ing a  kingdom  which  split  asunder,  falling  under 
the  crushing  power  of  the  empires  of  the  east,  but 
clinging  to  Its  faith  and  Its  traditions  until  a  rem- 
nant of  exiles  restored  the  ancient  fane  and  built 
on  the  ruins  of  their  "  sacred  nation  "  a  priestly 
community  which  Imposed  Its  authority  and  its 
system  of  faith  upon  a  large  part  of  the  world 
for  many  centuries. 

Welded  upon  this  framework  were  varied  prod- 
ucts of  the  genius  of  this  people.  Illustrating  its 
life.  Illuminating  its  experience  and  perpetuating 
Its  thought  and  sentiment.  There  were  proverbs 
and  wise  sayings,  collected  from  time  to  time  in 
the  later  days  and  massed  in  a  "  book  "  of  such, 
which  has  no  parallel  of  its  kind.  There  were 
hymns  and  sacred  songs,  produced  at  different 
periods  and  under  varied  circumstances  of  which 
there  is  no  record,  but  finally  developed  and  ap- 


28      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

plied  in  the  ritual  and  ceremonial  of  the  temple 
of  Zion.  These,  gathered  in  a  "  book  of  psalms," 
are  without  rival  in  human  literature.  There  were 
products  of  deep  meditation  upon  problems  of 
existence  in  the  sublime  poetry  of  Job  and 
the  sombre  brooding  of  Ecclesiastes,  or  the 
preacher.  There  were  idyls  and  stories  impressing 
some  lesson  of  Jewish  experience  and  faith,  and 
when  at  last  the  hope  of  material  greatness  faded, 
there  were  apocalyptic  visions  of  its  revival  in 
God's  own  time,  for  had  he  not  made  a  covenant 
with  Israel,  the  breaking  of  which  was  inconceive- 
able  to  the  devout  mind  of  Hebrew  seers?  With 
these  the  massive  epic  was  bound  up  and  sealed  as 
divine  by  all  the  authority  that  could  be  invoked 
for  it  by  men  who  assumed  to  speak  for  the  dread 
ruler  of  the  universe,  and  who  persuaded  them- 
selves and  the  world  that  their  voice  was  his. 


Ill 

THE   MAKING   OF   THE   EPIC 

As  already  stated,  It  was  after  the  middle  of 
the  ninth  century  B.  C,  In  the  Northern  Kingdom, 
that  the  narrative  appeared  known  to  scholars  as 
the  Yahwist  Source  of  the  Pentateuch  and  Joshua, 
and  It  had  a  truly  Homeric  character.  The  Elo- 
hlst  source  of  perhaps  a  century  later  used  much  of 
the  same  traditional  material;  but,  so  far  as  pre- 
served, it  appears  to  have  begun  with  the  story  of 
Abraham  and  not  of  the  creation.  When  the  two 
were  blended  Into  one  at  Jerusalem  after  the  de- 
struction of  Samaria,  parts  of  both  were  sacrificed 
to  the  union,  but  here  and  there  we  find  parallel 
and  somewhat  Inconsistent  accounts  of  the  same 
circumstances;  and  In  many  places  seams  and  su- 
tures of  mixed  material  are  apparent.  In  the  copy- 
ing and  editing  that  took  place  after  the  promulga- 
tion. In  the  latter  half  of  the  seventh  century  B.  C, 
of  the  law  which  constituted  the  original  substance 
of  the  book  that  came  to  be  known  as  Deuteron- 
omy, some  touches  of  the  theocratic  doctrine  then 
developed  by  the  prophets  were  impressed  upon 
the  narratives. 

Still  later,  in  the  time  of  the  exile  and  after  the 
29 


30      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

return  of  the  priests  to  the  new  temple  at  Jerusa- 
lem, where  these  narratives  were  made  the  frame- 
work of  the  fully  developed  law,  further  changes 
were  made,  chiefly  by  excision  and  interpolation, 
but  here  and  there  by  modified  statement  to  suit 
the  final  purpose  of  redaction.  The  original  nar- 
ratives ran  through  the  conquest  of  Canaan,  and 
passages  from  them  appear  in  the  Book  of  Joshua 
and  the  first  chapter  of  Judges,  with  traces  in  the 
second  chapter  of  the  latter  book;  but  the  five 
books  associated  with  the  name  of  Moses  and  mak- 
ing the  framework  of  the  law  were  first  consecrated 
as  the  true  "  word  of  God,'*  the  Canon,  or  rule  of 
life,  for  surviving  Israel.  It  was  that  introductory 
section  of  the  epic  which  was  first  translated  into 
Greek  at  Alexandria  in  the  Third  Century,  B.  C, 
as  the  "  Book  of  the  Law,"  and  formed  the  basis 
of  what  is  called  the  Septuagint  version  of  the 
Jewish  Scriptures. 

In  the  first  of  the  Rve  books  and  the  first  half 
of  the  second  there  is  a  rich  vein  of  the  work  of 
the  "  Yahwist."  It  begins  with  the  Adam  and 
Eve  and  Garden  of  Eden  myth  in  the  second  chap- 
ter of  Genesis,  which,  with  the  story  of  the  flood, 
was  derived  from  Babylonian  lore;  and  it  puts  In 
idyllic  form  stories  of  the  "  patriarchs,"  the  puta- 
tive ancestors  of  the  tribes  of  Israel.  In  these  we 
find  the  source  of  the  doctrine  that  the  possession 
of  the  land  was  derived  from  a  compact  between 
Yahweh  and  Abraham,  and  a  promise  renewed  to 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  EPIC       31 

Jacob.  The  stories  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob, 
of  Ishmael  as  the  ancestor  of  the  kindred  tribes 
of  Arabia,  of  Esau  as  the  progenitor  of  the  nearer 
kin  of  Edom,  and  of  the  daughters  of  Laban  rep- 
resenting the  kinship  of  Syria,  are  told  with  a 
fascinating  realism  that  makes  them  seem  like  mat- 
ters of  fact.  The  pride  and  glory  of  the  North- 
ern Kingdom  to  which  the  original  authors  of  the 
material  belonged,  are  celebrated  in  the  story  of 
Joseph,  while  the  character  of  Judah  is  degraded 
in  the  account  of  his  offspring. 

Traces  of  the  work  of  the  Elohist  do  not  ap- 
pear until  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  Genesis  where  the 
account  is  given  of  the  covenant  with  Abraham,  but 
from  there  on  it  mingles  more  or  less  freely  with 
the  earlier  material  and  sometimes  slightly  con- 
fuses it.  When  the  priests  revised  the  work  to 
suit  their  purpose  after  the  exile,  they  supplied  the 
opening  Chapter  which  contains  the  impressive 
description  of  the  creation  in  six  days  and  the  ad- 
vanced conception  of  the  creator.  They  inter- 
posed the  genealogies  before  and  after  the  flood, 
confused  the  account  of  the  flood  itself  with  their 
amendments,  interpolated  the  covenant  with  Noah, 
made  circumcision  the  seal  of  the  covenant  with 
Abraham,  gave  the  ages  of  most  of  the  charac- 
ters and  introduced  numerous  modifying  passages. 
The  whole  first  book  and  part  of  the  second  are  a 
treasure  house  of  ancient  Hebrew  myth,  somewhat 
marred  by  writers  who  strove  to  make  them  serve 


32      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

a  didactic  purpose.  The  work  of  the  Yahwlst  con- 
tinues with  a  mixture  of  myth  and  historic  legend 
in  the  account  of  Moses  and  the  escape  from 
Egypt.  There  is  much  mingling  of  the  Elohlst 
account  in  the  effort  to  give  It  greater  fulness,  and 
the  material  Is  not  always  harmonious,  but  it  is 
mostly  vivid.  The  purpose  of  embodying  the  law 
of  the  Jews  and  giving  it  divine  sanction  increases 
in  emphasis  as  the  narrative  proceeds.  There  was 
some  nucleus  of  this  in  the  early  documents  and 
Yahweh  was  represented  as  fulminating  his  com- 
mands to  Moses  in  clouds  and  lightning  on  Mount 
Sinai,  but  this  was  greatly  elaborated  in  the  later 
time  after  the  exile.  What  Is  known  to  the  learned 
as  the  *'  priests'  code,'*  completed  after  the  exile 
and  later  than  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  furnished  sev- 
eral whole  chapters  of  the  latter  part  of  Exodus, 
practically  all  of  Leviticus,  and  considerable  pas- 
sages in  Numbers  and  Joshua. 

All  laws  wherever  promulgated,  and  whatever 
their  character,  were  put  in  the  form  of  commands 
of  Israel's  God  "  by  the  mouth  of  Moses."  This 
began  with  the  earliest  brief  code  established  in  the 
time  of  the  Yahwlst  and  embodied  In  his  narrative, 
was  continued  with  that  said  to  have  been  dis- 
covered In  the  temple  under  Joslah  two  centuries 
later,  which  was  put  in  the  form  of  regular  dis- 
courses of  Moses,  and  was  made  still  more  em- 
phatic in  the  "  priests'  code  "  and  the  narratives 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  EPIC       33 

that  first  accompanied  It,  which  were  welded  into 
the  Pentateuch  In  Its  final  form. 

After  ''  The  Law,"  or  the  ''  Books  of  Moses," 
had  been  canonized  and  put  beyond  further  change, 
another  collection  was  consecrated  and  made  the 
second  great  section  of  the  epic  under  the  name  of 
the  "  prophets."  This  Included  Joshua  and 
Judges  and  the  so-called  historical  books  of 
Samuel  and  Kings,  as  well  as  the  oracles 
known  as  prophecies  which  have  personal  names 
attached  to  them.  This  also  was  wrought  over 
during  the  exile  and  put  In  final  form  after  the  re- 
turn of  the  priests  and  scribes  to  Jerusalem.  The 
material  of  Joshua  was  similar  to  that  of  the 
Pentateuch  and  it  contains  some  of  the  oldest  and 
some  of  the  latest  of  Its  elements.  The  basis  of 
the  Book  of  Judges,  after  the  first  two  chap- 
ters, was  the  old  hero  stories,  beginning  with  that 
of  Ehud  the  Benjamlte,  who  assassinated  the  fat 
king  of  Moab,  and  ending  with  Samson  who 
brought  the  temple  of  Dagon  down  upon  his  own 
head  In  revenge  upon  the  Philistines,  with  a  later 
appendix  on  the  migration  of  the  Danltes  and  the 
war  of  the  other  tribes  upon  Benjamin. 

Here  we  have  the  very  oldest  of  the  written 
literature  of  Israel  that  was  preserved,  with  the 
exception  of  some  fragments  referred  to  in  the 
previous  chapter.  It  has  the  crude  simplicity  and 
naturalism  of  other  primitive  writings  and  gives 


34      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

some  graphic  pictures  of  life  in  the  days  when  there 
was  no  king  in  Israel  and  every  man  did  that 
which  was  good  in  his  own  eyes.  In  the  subsequent 
editing,  after  the  Deuteronomic  law  was  pro- 
mulgated and  the  theocratic  doctrine  of  human 
government  was  developed,  these  tales,  with  slight 
references  to  intermediate  rulers,  were  framed  in 
a  sort  of  pragmatism  that  Is  easily  recognised  and 
separated  from  the  stories.  Such  religious  char- 
acter as  they  originally  had  was  of  the  pristine 
kind,  mythological  in  quality,  but  now  they  were 
turned  to  account  to  Illustrate  the  doctrine  that  all 
calamities  or  defeats  of  the  people  were  due  to 
their  sins,  which  consisted  chiefly  In  neglecting  the 
worship  of  Yahweh  and  going  after  other  gods, 
or  disobeying  his  commands,  and  that  their  deliver- 
ance must  come  from  repentance  and  a  return  to 
fidelity  to  him  and  dependence  upon  him.  The 
later  redactors  in  the  post-exilic  time  did  not  avoid 
confusing  the  narratives  with  mixed  material  here 
and  there,  as  In  the  account  of  Gideon's  conflict 
with  the  Midianltes  and  that  of  the  Benjamlte  war. 
One  effect  of  the  revisions  was  to  represent  these 
casual  heroes  as  a  succession  of  rulers  for  terms 
of  years,  which  In  point  of  fact  they  were  not. 
The  original  stories,  like  the  best  material  of  the 
Pentateuch  and  Joshua,  were  Ephralmite,  and  they 
contain  scarcely  a  reference  to  Judah.  Some  critics 
credit  the  basis  of  these  tales  to  the  Yahwist  and 
Elohist  ''  documents/' 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  EPIC       35 

The  material  of  the  book,  or  books,  of  Sam- 
uel is  of  various  dates  and  is  irregularly  pieced 
together  and  not  made  to  harmonise  completely. 
The  earliest  and  least  sophisticated  is  that  relating 
to  David's  reign  in  the  second  book,  and  next  to 
that  come  the  stories  of  David  in  his  relation  to 
Saul  and  his  life  as  a  freebooter  in  the  mountains 
of  Judah  and  a  vassal  of  one  of  the  Philistine 
kings.  Next  comes  the  more  friendly  account  of 
Saul,  and  latest  the  stories  of  Samuel  and  Saul 
which  show  the  prophet  and  king  at  enmity  with 
each  other  and  represent  the  setting  up  of  the  king- 
dom as  reluctantly  assented  to  by  "  the  Lord  "  and 
his  prophet.  These  latter  originated  two  or  three 
centuries  after  the  events  to  which  they  relate  and 
cannot  be  considered  at  all  as  historical.  The 
element  of  theocratic  pragmatism  is  introduced  in 
all  the  late  material. 

The  two  books  of  Kings  do  not  constitute 
a  history  of  the  kingdoms,  but  after  the  account 
of  Solomon's  reign,  derived  from  a  pre-existing 
*'  book  of  the  Acts  of  Solomon,"  It  Is  largely  an 
argument  In  support  of  the  theocratic  doctrine. 
That  makes  It  more  fitting  as  part  of  the  great 
national  epic  than  any  dry  chronicle  of  events 
would  be.  It  had  purpose  and  colour  and  was 
compiled  with  a  view  to  edification  for  the  future 
rather  than  Information  of  the  past.  The  first 
compiler  was  deeply  imbued  with  the  doctrine  of 
the  Deuteronomic  Code,  that  all  worship  was  to 


36      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

be  centralised  at  Jerusalem  In  strict  observance  of 
the  law,  that  the  unpardonable  sin  of  Jeroboam, 
in  which  he  "  caused  Israel  to  sin  "  and  brought 
calamity  on  the  nation,  was  the  setting  up  of  places 
of  worship  at  Bethel  and  Dan,  and  that  all  use  of 
shrines  and  images  on  the  hilltops,  or  "  high 
places,"  after  the  ancient  manner,  as  well  as  wan- 
dering after  other  gods,  was  Infidelity  to  Yahweh, 
which  would  bring  punishment  upon  the  nation. 
He  was  also  imbued  with  the  theocratic  spirit  of 
the  prophets,  which  taught  that  the  nation  was 
the  special  care  of  "  the  Lord,"  Yahweh,  who  pun- 
ished it  by  permitting  Its  enemies  to  harry  and 
plunder  it,  and  would  destroy  It  by  bringing  power- 
ful foes  upon  It  from  the  East  If  It  persisted  In 
disobedience  and  unfaithfulness;  but  who  would 
rescue  and  save  It  whenever  It  repented  and  re- 
turned to  Its  true  allegiance.  But  he  would  In 
any  case  bring  a  purified  remnant  out  of  its  trib- 
ulation to  restore  the  Kingdom  of  David,  which 
should  abide  forever  and  bring  all  the  earth  under 
Its  sway. 

The  compilation  was  made  from  material  drawn 
from  the  chronicles  or  annals  of  the  kingdoms, 
Ephraimite  legends  of  prophets  and  sketches  of 
wars  with  Syria,  and  was  directed  in  a  way  to  serve 
the  dominant  purpose  of  the  compiler.  It  seems 
to  have  been  completed  In  Its  earliest  form  before 
the  "  captivity,"  but  it  was  extended  and  revised 
during   the    exile   and   received   touches    from   a 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  EPIC       37 

final  redactor  before  It  was  embalmed  in  the 
epic. 

The  oracles  of  the  great  prophets  before  Ezek- 
lel  and  of  those  "  minor  prophets  "  who  preceded 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  appear  to  have  been 
carried  to  Babylon  by  devout  exiles  with  consider- 
able confusion  of  manuscripts,  partly  arranged  and 
edited  there,  and  completed  after  the  return. 
They  were  put  together  In  considerable  disorder, 
and  later  oracles  were  added  to  them  or  Interpo- 
lated In  them  before  the  second  section  of  the  epic 
designated  as  "  the  prophets "  was  canonised, 
sealed  against  further  change  and  attached  to  "  the 
Law "  in  the  Greek  version  of  the  Scriptures. 
Isaiah  suffered  most  from  the  rude  editing.  The 
genuine  material,  whether  written  by  the  prophet 
or  recorded  by  faithful  scribes,  was  ill-arranged, 
and  both  older  and  later  oracles  were  Interpolated 
between  Its  parts  or  attached  to  its  close.  The 
last  twenty-seven  chapters,  as  they  stand  In  modern 
versions,  are  much  later  than  the  rest,  part  belong- 
ing to  the  time  of  release  from  captivity  and  part 
to  a  still  later  day.  Jeremiah  was  less  marred  in 
the  make-up  and  Ezekiel  scarcely  at  all,  but  there 
Is  some  mixing  of  material  of  minor  prophets  after 
the  exile.  Notwithstanding  the  unskilful  handling 
of  this  material.  In  consequence  of  the  lack  of  sys- 
tematic records  and  of  the  historical  or  critical 
sense.  It  forms  the  loftiest  part  of  the  great  epic. 

To  the  Scriptures  as  thus  constituted,  after  the 


38      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

restoration  of  the  temple  and  the  establishment  of 
the  priestly  commonwealth  of  the  Jews,  was  added 
a  third  section  before  the  epic  was  closed.  This 
fluctuated  for  a  time  and  the  Christian  era  opened 
before  It  was  finally  determined  by  the  canon  of 
Jewish  authorities  what  books  were  sacred  and 
what  were  secular.  It  was  too  late  to  destroy 
literature  that  was  not  to  be  deemed  sacred,  and 
It  was  only  rejected  and  stamped  as  "  apocrypha." 
Some  of  this  was  not  Inferior  to  some  that  was 
accepted,  but  It  was  not  so  essential  to  the  complete- 
ness of  the  work  that  was  to  Illustrate  the  life  and 
character  of  ancient  Israel  and  carry  Its  Influence 
to  future  generations. 

This  third  and  last  section  to  be  welded  Into 
the  epic  was  called  simply  "  the  writings,"  or  in 
Greek  the  "  sacred  writings,"  and  In  modern 
versions  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures  It  Is  interpolated 
in  the  middle  of  that  originally  called  "  the 
prophets,"  between  the  legendary  and  quasl-hls- 
torlcal  books  and  those  deemed  genuine 
prophetic  oracles.  One  of  these  "  writings," 
however,  the  Book  of  Daniel,  came  to  be 
classed  among  the  prophets,  and  another,  that 
of  Lamentations,  was  mistakenly  attached  to 
Jeremiah,  as  utterances  of  the  prophet,  and 
though  afterwards  detached  from  the  book  It  holds 
its  place  next  to  it  in  the  arrangement.  One  of 
those  always  classed  among  the  "  minor  prophets  " 
is  not  a  "  prophecy,"  but  an  Illustrative  story  in 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  EPIC       39 

which  one  of  the  old  prophets,  Jonah,  the  son  of 
Amittal,  figures.  Another  of  ''  the  writings,"  the 
beautiful  idyl  of  Ruth,  which  originated  after 
the  restoration  of  the  temple  as  an  appeal  against 
the  cruel  edict  of  the  priests  separating  the  faith- 
ful from  their  alien  wives,  was  attached  to  the 
Book  of  Judges,  merely  because  it  related  back  to 
the  same  heroic  age;  and,  though  again  detached, 
it  still  holds  its  place  after  that  book. 

For  the  rest,  this  section  of  the  epic  now  begins 
with  the  quasi-historical  books  of  Chronicles 
and  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  which  follow  the 
books  of  Kings.  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  once 
treated  as  a  single  book,  relate  to  the  return 
from  exile,  the  restoration  of  the  temple  and  its 
worship,  the  rebuilding  of  the  walls  of  Jerusalem, 
and  the  promulgation  of  the  law  in  the  form  In 
which  It  was  brought  back  from  the  priestly 
circles  at  Babylon  before  the  completion  of  the 
Levltlcal  system.  The  book  was  compiled  a 
century  or  two  after  the  events  to  which  it  relates 
from  material  that  consisted  in  part  of  veritable 
memoirs  of  Ezra,  who  had  brought  back  a  de- 
tachment of  the  exiles,  and  of  Nehemiah,  who  had 
been  commissioned  by  the  Persian  King  Artaxerxes 
to  rebuild  the  walls  of  ZIon.  It  exhibits  the  lack 
of  orderly  arrangement  and  of  literary  skill  char- 
acteristic of  the  editing  of  the  time,  but  Is  one  of 
the  most  truly  historical  parts  of  the  epic.  The 
compiler  was  no  doubt  the  author  of  the  book  of 


40      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

Chronicles,  now  divided  into  two  books,  and  a 
priest  ardently  devoted  to  the  new  modes  of  wor- 
ship at  the  temple.  His  own  book  is  made  up  of 
genealogies  from  the  time  of  Adam  to  David; 
and  from  the  establishment  of  the  monarchy  it 
is  a  recasting  of  the  history  of  Judah,  with  in- 
cidental reference  to  Israel,  covering  the  same 
period  as  the  books  of  Kings.  It  transforms 
this  history  in  the  spirit  of  the  priestly  system  of 
the  author's  day,  which  he  zealously  attributes  to 
David,  the  founder  of  the  dynasty  now  considered 
a  sacred  memory  and  the  basis  of  a  hope  of  great- 
ness yet  to  be  realised. 

The  other  books  are  not  arranged  on  any  prin- 
ciple; but,  as  each  is  an  independent  element  of 
the  epic,  it  has  no  strictly  logical  place.  One  of 
these  was  the  collection  of  proverbs  and  wise  say- 
ings variously  gathered  together  during  the  cen- 
turies, but  commonly  attributed  to  Solomon,  who 
was  represented  as  a  paragon  of  knowledge  and 
wisdom  by  the  chroniclers  of  Judah.  Several  col- 
lections of  psalms  and  sacred  songs  had  been  made 
and  these  were  massed  together  and  labeled  with 
the  revered  name  of  David.  A  few  of  these  were 
old,  but  the  greater  part  originated  after  the  exile 
and  were  connected  with  the  temple  service.  No 
element  of  the  great  epic  reaches  a  loftier  height 
of  grandeur  and  sublimity  than  the  dramatic  poem 
of  Job,  and  nothing  in  human  literature  surpasses 
it  in  those  qualities. 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  EPIC       41 

Three  more  *'  books  "  came  within  the  canon 
after  much  questioning  and  hesitation  in  the  cen- 
turies of  doubt,  when  others  were  being  gradually- 
relegated  to  the  limbo  of  apocrypha.  Esther, 
which  powerfully  embodies  the  pride  and  arro- 
gance of  the  Jewish  race,  in  spite  of  adversity  and 
humiliation,  probably  owed  Its  admission  to  Its  sup- 
posed explanation  of  the  origin  of  the  feast 
of  Purim.  The  gloomy  and  sceptical  philosophy 
of  the  greater  part  of  Ecclesiastes,  which  was 
a  late  post-exilic  production,  long  excluded  it,  and 
it  was  finally  saved  by  association  with  the  name 
of  Solomon  and  by  Its  "  conclusion  of  the  whole 
matter,"  appended  by  a  later  hand  than  that  of 
the  original  author,  that  fear  of  God  and  keeping 
his  commandments  was  the  **  whole  duty  of  man," 
and  that  God  would  "  bring  every  work  into 
judgment  with  every  secret  thing,  whether  It  be 
good  or  whether  It  be  evil."  "  The  Song  of  Songs, 
which  Is  Solomon's,"  was  rescued  from  oblivion 
and  stuck  as  a  glittering  jewel  upon  the  completed 
work,  upon  an  unfounded  assumption  that  It  really 
was  Solomon's,  and  by  an  Interpretation  that  made 
It  symbolise  the  love  of  God  for  his  people,  which 
had  as  much  ground  as  the  later  interpretation 
which  twisted  It  Into  a  symbol  of  "  Christ's  love 
for  the  Church."  It  Is  a  charming  Idyl  of  purely 
human  and  earthly  love,  probably  wrought  from 
the  wedding  songs  of  the  Judean  days  after  the 
exile,  and  gives  a  glimpse  of  the  side  of  life  In 


42      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

those  days  that  relieves  the  gloom  and  solemnity 
with  which  It  Is  apt  to  be  too  closely  associated  In 
the  modern  mind. 

Properly  considered  the  Book  of  Daniel  closes 
the  epic.  It  relates  to  the  desperate  struggle  of 
the  Jewish  nation  for  renewed  life  against  the  op- 
pression of  Syria,  and  prefigures  Its  short-lived 
triumph.  Though  Its  visions  of  that  triumph, 
which  was  to  result  In  an  ''  everlasting  kingdom  " 
and  the  subjection  of  all  other  "  dominions,"  were 
doomed  to  sink  under  the  eclipse  of  the  Roman 
power,  it  was  Interpreted  anew  when  the  dark- 
ness fell,  as  foreshadowing  the  Messianic  time, 
when  God's  Anointed  would  surely  reign  In  glory, 
and  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  would  be  brought 
under  his  sway  or  be  destroyed.  Then  would  all 
his  saints  be  redeemed  from  tribulation  and  their 
enemies  brought  to  shame  and  everlasting  con- 
tempt, even  to  "  many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the 
dust  of  the  earth." 

Thus  we  have  the  early  myths  and  legends  of 
Israel,  the  outlines  of  its  history  for  a  thousand 
years,  the  development  of  Its  laws  and  Its  ethical 
Ideas,  its  conceptions  of  deity  and  Its  religious 
faith,  its  wisdom  and  philosophy.  Its  highest 
poetry  and  its  exalted  prophecy,  wrought  by  the 
concurrent  and  consecutive  efforts  of  Its  own 
genius  during  the  latter  half  of  that  eventful 
millenium  Into  one  great  work  of  literature,  which 
has  been  regarded  as  a  sacred  heritage  by  a  large 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  EPIC       43 

part  of  mankind  ever  since.  It  Is  a  human  work 
in  the  sense  that  all  the  history  and  literature  of 
mankind  arc  human  work,  and  divine  only  as  all 
that  is  wrought  through  man  for  the  elevation  and 
progress  of  the  race  may  be  regarded  as  divine. 
It  is  open  to  the  study  of  man  as  all  the  work 
of  God  and  man  Is  open  to  his  study,  with  the  free- 
dom of  thought  and  reason  with  which  man  is 
endowed  by  his  maker.  It  Is  only  by  breaking 
the  seal  of  peculiar  sanctity  and  exclusiveness  which 
Jewish  priests  and  rabbis  imposed  upon  it  two 
thousand  years  ago,  that  the  Interest  of  men  at 
this  day  can  be  revived  In  Its  contents,  and  a  living 
benefit  can  be  again  derived  from  Its  lessons. 
With  this  In  mind  we  will  now  try  to  get  a  fuller 
and  clearer  view  of  what  It  contains. 


IV 

THE   MYTHS    OF   ISRAEL 

To  understand  properly  the  contents  of  this 
greatest  of  all  epics  we  need  to  divest  our  minds 
from  Inherited  and  Inculcated  preconceptions  which 
would  deprive  the  Hebrew  genius  of  all  credit  for 
its  greatest  work,  its  only  great  literary  work. 
This  genius  was  different  In  kind  and  In  degree 
from  that  of  other  peoples  of  the  same  era  of 
human  development,  but  It  worked  In  an  equally 
human  way.  At  the  first  awakening  of  Its  powers 
it  was  occupied  with  memories  of  the  past,  the 
deeds  of  heroes  and  the  struggles  for  national  ex- 
istence. Then  It  began  to  think,  to  Imagine,  to 
speculate  upon  Its  ancestry,  upon  the  origin  of  Its 
race,  the  origin  of  other  races,  of  all  mankind,  of 
the  earth  and  the  heavens,  and  upon  the  powers 
of  Nature  and  the  one  all-embracing  power  behind 
the  seen  and  the  unseen. 

The  Hebrews  of  that  age  had  no  science  and 
little  knowledge  of  nature  or  of  mankind  beyond 
their  own  observation.  The  critical  and  analyt- 
ical faculties  were  little  developed  and  had  little 
to  work  upon.  They  had  no  reasoned  philosophy 
or  capacity  for  forming  one,  but  they  had  awe  in 

44 


THE  MYTHS  OF  ISRAEL  45, 

the  presence  of  nature,  vivid  imagination  and  un- 
curbed credulity.  Hence  their  speculations  on  the 
origin  of  things  took  the  form  of  myths,  created 
by  a  poetic  imagination,  but  accepted  for  truth  as 
readily  as  are  the  results  of  research  In  these 
modern  days. 

The  epic  opens,  as  we  have  seen,  with  an  ac- 
count of  the  creation,  prefixed  to  it  at  a  late  day 
and  derived  from  Babylon  in  the  time  of  the 
exile.  It  is  much  loftier  in  conception  than  what 
follows  it,  which  is  Rve  centuries  older.  The  old 
myth  of  the  creation  was  of  Chaldean  origin  and 
appears  to  have  been  curtailed  when  this  prelude 
was  prefixed  to  it,  but  enough  of  It  remains  to 
show  that  it  did  not  represent  the  earth  as  emerg- 
ing from  a  waste  of  waters,  but  as  being  itself  an 
arid  waste,  waiting  for  the  mist  to  rise  and  the 
rain  to  fall.  The  story  of  the  creation  of  man 
and  woman  and  their  environment  In  the  garden 
also  had  Its  germ  In  Chaldean  lore,  but  it  bears 
the  true  Impress  of  Hebrew  genius  In  Its  doctrine 
of  human  life  as  a  fall  from  the  favour  of  God 
and  a  struggle  for  the  grace  of  an  alienated  and 
resentful  deity,  who  had  been  disobeyed  In  the 
very  Infancy  of  mankind.  The  God  of  these 
early  myths  Is  created  in  the  image  of  man,  a  high 
Ideal  for  the  time  of  Its  conception,  but  It  Is  crude 
according  to  any  rational  estimate  of  modern  times. 
He  fashions  man  from  clay  and  woman  from  his 
rib,  and  breathes  life  Into  them;  he  walks  In  the 


46      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

garden,  asks  questions  and  gives  commands,  and 
he  drives  the  disobedient  pair  from  paradise  Into 
a  lonely  world,  which  speedily  appears  neverthe- 
less to  be  old  and  occupied,  and  he  soon  decides 
his  first  experiment  to  have  been  a  failure  and 
destroys  all  but  one  family  with  a  flood  of  waters 
and  starts  anew  with  the  human  race,  but  with 
little  greater  success.  The  story  of  the  deluge, 
as  well  as  that  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  found  its 
suggestion  In  Chaldean  mythology. 

Incongruity  soon  appears  In  this  story  of  the 
beginning  of  the  race  on  account  of  the  diversity 
of  material  of  which  It  Is  composed.  The  ancient 
fragment  which  gives  the  descent  of  Lamech  from 
Cain  came  from  an  author  who  knew  nothing  of 
the  cutting  off  of  the  race  by  a  flood  of  waters, 
for  Lamech,  who  In  other  material  Is  made  the 
father  of  Noah,  begets  children  who  are  the  pro- 
genitors of  those  who  Invented  the  arts  and  crafts 
of  the  writer's  time.  The  genealogy  which  makes 
Lamech  descend  from  Seth  In  seven  generations. 
Instead  of  from  Cain  in  five,  and  makes  him  the 
father  of  Noah,  Is  one  of  the  Interpolations  from 
the  post-exilic  priestly  writing,  by  which  also  the 
Yahwist's  account  of  the  flood  is  somewhat  con- 
fused In  the  final  redaction.  It  Is  the  same  priestly 
writer  of  a  late  day  that  devised  the  covenant  with 
Noah  of  which  the  rainbow  was  to  be  the  token. 
There  is  an  ancient  fragment  which  makes  Canaan, 
instead  of  Ham,  the  son  of  Noah  upon  whom  the 


THE  MYTHS  OF  ISRAEL  47 

curse  of  subjection  is  pronounced,  and  another 
that  accounts  for  the  dispersion  of  mankind  by 
the  confusion  of  tongues  when  the  audacious  at- 
tempt was  made  to  reach  heaven  with  a  tower, 
instead  of  by  the  division  of  the  family  of  Noah, 
whose  descendants  had  the  names  of  places  and 
tribes  known  in  the  time  of  the  writer  who 
described  the  "  generations  "  of  the  Sons  of  Noah. 
The  formal  genealogy  of  the  line  of  Shem,  like 
that  of  the  line  of  Seth  to  Noah,  is  an  interpola- 
tion from  the  priest's  writing  after  the  exile. 

These  preliminary  myths,  leading  to  the  ap- 
pearance of  Abram,  or  Abraham,  as  the  ancestor 
of  Israel,  arc  crude,  but  they  are  intended  to  exalt 
the  Hebrew  race  above  the  rest  of  mankind  and 
they  serve  that  purpose  effectively.  There  is  more 
skill  displayed  in  the  series  of  ethnic  myths  em- 
bodied in  the  stories  of  the  patriarchs,  and  they 
are  less  marred  by  mixture  of  material  and  the 
meddling  of  late  scribes.  Here  the  peculiar  genius 
of  the  writer  known  as  the  Yahwist  appears  at  Its 
best. 

The  earliest  time  to  which  these  myths  can  be 
traced  was  four  or  five  centuries  after  the  sup- 
posed deliverance  from  Egyptian  bondage  under 
Moses  and  the  struggles  through  the  deserts  to 
the  "  promised  land."  It  was  nearly  a  century 
and  a  half  after  the  setting  up  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Saul,  and  many  years  after  Its  division  on  the  death 
of  Solomon  Into  two,  the  stronger  of  which  ar- 


48      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

rogated  to  itself  the  ancient  title  of  "  Israel/' 
while  the  other  had  to  be  content  with  the  name  of 
the  single  "  tribe  "  of  Judah.  There  were  a  num- 
ber of  territorial  names,  supposed  to  have  origi- 
nated with  separate  tribes  or  clans,  and  there  were 
traditions  of  others  that  had  disappeared,  by  which 
the  number  of  twelve,  sacred  in  Babylonian  lore, 
was  established.  It  was  a  tendency  of  primitive 
peoples  to  personify  their  country,  with  the  name 
of  a  common  ancestor,  and  its  divisions,  with  the 
names  of  his  offspring,  and  these  names  had 
usually  a  real  or  supposed  significance  that  led  to 
the  invention  of  stories  explaining  their  origin. 
Israel,  interpreted  as  meaning  "  Warrior  of  God,'* 
was  probably  adopted  in  the  time  of  conflict  and 
struggle,  when  Yahweh  was  a  "  God  of  battles," 
and  it  is  found  in  an  Egyptian  inscription  of  about 
the  time  of  the  Invasion  of  Canaan.  The  poet- 
ical name  for  the  country,  "  Jacob,"  meant  "  heel," 
or  one  who  supplanted  another  by  placing  his 
heel  upon  him,  and  it  probably  had  its  origin  In 
song  when  the  "  Children  of  Israel "  put  the 
tribes  of  Canaan  under  their  feet  and  took  pos- 
session of  their  land. 

Abram,  meaning  "  Exalted  father,"  or  Abra- 
ham, *'  The  father  of  many,"  according  to  the 
popular  etymology,  appears  In  old  Inscriptions 
as  a  personal  name,  but  Its  significance  sug- 
gests that  It  had  Its  Hebrew  application  in  the 
mythical  explanation  of  the  ancestry  of  peoples. 


THE  MYTHS  OF  ISRAEL  49 

and  It  was  claimed  as  an  ancestral  name  by  all  the 
Semitic  tribes  of  the  West,  though  Israel  made  it 
peculiarly  Its  own.  Israel's  early  writers  took 
pride  In  deriving  its  ancestry  from  the  ancient 
empire  of  Babylonia,  or  Chaldea,  and  brought 
their  "  Abram  "  from  one  of  Its  chief  capitals, 
Uru,  or  *'  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,"  with  kinsmen 
who  became  progenitors  of  other  nations  akin  to 
Israel.  Canaan  had  been  won  by  bloody  conquest 
and  trampling  upon  Its  original  inhabitants,  but 
possession  was  to  be  justified  and  sanctified  by  a 
promise  to  Abram,  whose  name  was  then  changed 
to  Abraham,  and  to  his  descendants,  and  by  a 
solemn  covenant  between  him  and  his  god,  who 
was  to  be  the  god  of  all  his  posterity. 

This  posterity  the  deity  would  multiply  and 
make  his  peculiar  care  until  In  it  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth  should  be  blessed.  Intermediate  be- 
tween the  Chaldean  progenitor  and  the  supplanter, 
whose  sons  were  to  be  the  fathers  of  all  the  twelve 
tribes,  a  link  was  interposed  with  a  name  of  cheer- 
ful omen,  "  Isaac "  or  *'  laughter,"  associated 
with  the  ancient  fane  nearest  to  Eg}^pt,  that  of 
Beersheba.  He  was  sanctified  as  a  special  gift  of 
God  by  being  made  the  offspring  of  his  parents 
when  they  were  old  and  when  the  mother  had 
been  previously  barren  all  her  life.  Precedence 
In  point  of  time,  In  accordance  with  historic  fact, 
was  given  to  kindred  tribes  of  Arabia,  but  they 
were  made  the  offspring  of  an  Egyptian  slave  in 


so      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

the  service  of  Abram  and  Saral, —  not  yet  trans- 
formed to  Abraham  and  Sarah, —  In  the  person 
of  Ishmael,  In  whom  was  personified  the  char- 
acter of  a  people  whose  hand  was  against  all 
others.  Other  tribes  of  Inferior  rank  were  cred- 
ited to  Abraham  by  a  second  marriage. 

The  personality  of  Isaac  Is  not  clearly  defined, 
but  it  Is  different  with  that  of  Rebekah  through 
whom  the  relation  of  Israel  to  Syria  and  to  Edom 
is  portrayed.  Nahor,  the  name  of  a  place  In 
Mesopotamia,  is  made  the  brother  of  Abram ;  and 
to  his  granddaughter,  Rebekah,  Isaac  Is  married, 
Abraham  sending  a  servant  of  Damascene  origin 
to  bring  her.  Haran  was  also  the  name  of  a 
place,  but  it  was  made  a  brother  of  Abram  who 
had  died  in  the  land  of  the  "  Chaldees,''  but 
through  whose  son,  Lot,  the  Ammonites  and 
Moabites  were  to  be  accounted  for. 

Edom  was  older  than  Israel  and  closely  allied 
In  blood,  and  there  had  been  rivalry  between  them 
in  the  early  days  of  the  kingdom,  which,  before  the 
time  of  the  Yahwist  writer,  had  resulted  In  Israel 
gaining  the  upper  hand  in  Its  own  territory.  In 
the  myth  of  Isaac  and  Rebekah,  Esau  represent- 
ing Edom,  and  Israel,  under  the  name  of  Jacob, 
were  twins.  Esau  was  the  first-born,  but  was  sup- 
planted by  his  brother.  The  story,  as  we  have  it. 
Is  of  mixed  material  and  has  two  different  accounts 
of  the  manner  in  which  Jacob  secured  the  prece- 
dence over  Esau.     His  name  is  explained  by  his 


THE  MYTHS  OF  ISRAEL  51 

grasping  his  brother  by  the  heel  at  birth  and  ac- 
cording to  one  account  he  craftily  buys  the  birth- 
right with  a  mess  of  pottage,  and  according  to  the 
other  secures  his  ascendancy  by  the  wily  trick,  to 
which  his  Syrian  mother  incites  him,  of  obtain- 
ing the  blessing  of  his  blind  father  which  was  in- 
tended for  the  first-born. 

Israel's  supremacy  by  divine  favour  and  human 
duplicity  being  thus  established,  the  kinship  with 
Syria  is  made  more  prominent  by  Jacob  being  sent 
thither  to  marry  a  daughter  of  Laban,  his  mother's 
brother.  Syria's  duplicity  appears  In  the  trick  by 
which  Laban  Imposes  upon  Jacob  first  the  elder 
and  less  attractive  daughter,  whom  he  did  not  de- 
sire, and  making  him  serve  a  second  seven  years 
for  Rachel,  the  younger;  but  Jacob  shows  his 
superiority  In  craft  by  contriving  to  get  into  his 
own  possession  the  bulk  of  Laban's  property.  The 
relative  position  of  the  tribes  is  most  skilfully 
illustrated  In  the  birth  of  Jacob's  children  by  the 
two  wives  and  their  two  handmaidens,  and  there 
is  nothing  In  all  literature  that  surpasses  In  com- 
pactness and  vividness  the  manner  In  which 
national  characteristics  are  embodied  In  Esau, 
Laban  and  Jacob.  The  traits  personified  In  the 
last  named  by  the  genius  of  the  authors  of  these 
myths  persisted  throughout  the  history  of  Israel 
and  are  a  heritage  of  the  Jews  to  this  day. 

The  Doint  of  view  of  the  writers  to  whom  we 
owe  these   graphic  pictures   of   Israel's   mythical 


52      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

origin  was  that  of  the  Northern  Kingdom,  to  which 
they  belonged  and  which  they  magnified  over 
Judah.  This  accounts  for  the  character  of  the 
stories  of  the  Sons  of  Jacob.  The  Judahite 
writer  who  after  the  destruction  of  Samaria 
blended  their  narratives  into  one,  and  the  subse- 
quent scribes  who  copied  and  revised  the  work,  did 
not  efface  or  seriously  mar  this  character,  which 
so  glorified  Joseph  at  the  expense  of  his  brethren. 
The  name  Joseph  implied  separation  and  was  given 
to  all  that  territory  which  had  broken  away  from 
Judah  after  the  death  of  Solomon.  Its  dominant 
domain  was  Ephraim,  which  Judahite  writers  were 
wont  to  use  as  a  designation  of  the  whole  kingdom 
called  by  its  own  subjects  "  Israel,"  and  the  next 
in  rank  was  Manasseh,  mainly  on  account  of  its 
territorial  extent.  Those  two  were  regarded  as 
the  sons  of  Joseph,  whose  name  loomed  above  all 
others  in  the  family  of  Jacob. 

According  to  tradition  the  oldest  of  the  tribes 
was  Reuben,  which  settled  permanently  on  the 
East  side  of  the  Jordan  and  in  some  unexplained 
way  had  committed  outrage  upon  the  family  and 
had  disappeared  as  a  distinct  territorial  designa- 
tion. It  is  referred  to  disparagingly  in  that  oldest 
of  Israel's  heroic  ballads,  the  "  Song  of  Deborah,'' 
and  there  is  a  poetical  allusion  to  Its  national 
offence  In  the  so-called  "  Blessing  of  Jacob."  By 
the  same  figure  of  speech  it  is  embodied  in  a  brief 
statement  In  the  Yahwist  narrative.     Reuben   Is 


THE  MYTHS  OF  ISRAEL  53 

made  the  first-born  of  Leah.  There  was  another 
tribe  that  had  been  associated  In  tradition  with 
Judah  in  the  far  south  under  the  name  of  Simeon 
but  had  faded  out.  It  was  made  the  second  son 
of  Leah.  There  had  been  a  class  of  wandering 
priests  or  ministers  of  worship  in  the  primitive 
times  known  as  Levites,  and  though  they  had  no 
territory  or  inheritance  of  their  own  in  the  king- 
dom, they  were  exalted  into  a  tribe  as  the  Sons  of 
Levi,  the  third  son  of  Leah.  Judah,  which  was  a 
kingdom  by  itself,  was  given  the  place  of  fourth 
son  of  Jacob  and  Leah. 

Meantime  no  offspring  was  vouchsafed  to 
Rachel.  Four  of  the  tribes  or  districts  of  minor 
rank  were  assigned  to  Jacob's  paternity  by  hand- 
maids of  his  two  wives,  the  names  being  explained 
by  circumstances  of  their  birth,  or  rather  of  their 
conception.  First,  the  handmaid  of  Rachel  gave 
birth  to  Dan  and  Naphtall  and  then  that  of  Leah 
to  Gad  and  Asher.  Two  other  tribes  were 
granted  the  maternity  of  Leah,  Issachar  and 
Zebulun.  Leah  also  had  a  daughter,  Dinah, 
who  served  the  sole  purpose  of  accounting  for  an 
apparently  unprovoked  attack  which,  according  to 
tradition,  Simeon  and  Levi  had  made  upon  She- 
chem.  Shechem,  as  well  as  the  Israelite  clans, 
was  personified  In  the  story.  At  last  the  beloved 
Rachel  was  blessed  with  a  son,  that  Joseph  who 
was  so  glorified  as  the  saviour  of  the  family.  After 
that,  Jacob  left  Laban  with  his  wives  and  children 


54      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

and  the  flocks  and  herds  he  had  acquired  in  "  serv- 
ing "  his  father-in-law.  In  the  brief  account  of 
the  parting  the  political  relation  of  Israel  and  Syria 
is  symbolised  and  incidentally  that  of  Israel  with 
the  brother  nation  of  Edom.  The  craft  of  Jacob 
appears  In  contrast  with  the  relative  obtuseness  and 
gullibility  of  Laban,  and  his  cringing  timidity  com- 
pares unfavourably  with  the  frankness  and  courage 
of  Esau;  but  national  characteristics  are  exhibited 
with  unshrinking  candour.  Finally,  on  the  journey 
through  the  heritage  of  Israel  Rachel  dies  in  giving 
birth  to  Jacob's  youngest  son,  the  little  but  warlike 
tribe  of  Benjamin,  which  furnished  the  first  king 
of  Israel. 

This  manner  of  accounting  for  the  nation  and 
the  different  tribes  or  divisions  of  which  it  had  at 
one  time  or  another  been  composed,  is  in  the  true 
spirit  and  manner  of  old  mythologies,  but  it  has 
a  vivid  realism  peculiar  to  the  Hebrew  genius.  It 
is  followed,  after  a  genealogy  of  the  family  of 
Esau,  or  the  "generations"  of  Edom, —  mainly 
a  late  Interpolation, —  by  the  remarkable  glorifi- 
cation of  the  Northern  Kingdom  at  the  expense  of 
Judah  embodied  in  the  story  of  Joseph  and  his 
brethren,  which  also  serves  to  account,  in  a  man- 
ner to  cover  the  humiliation,  for  the  falling  into 
servitude  In  Egypt.  That  this  should  have  been 
preserved  with  so  little  defacement  by  the  Judean 
writers  who  blended  the  original  material  and 
afterwards  revised  and  completed  the  narratives, 


THE  MYTHS  OF  ISRAEL  55 

seems  strange,  and  still  more  so  that  they  should 
have  interposed  between  the  account  of  selling 
Joseph  into  Egypt  and  his  rise  to  greatness  there, 
the  old  story  about  Judah  and  his  children  which 
was  obviously  intended  to  cast  obloquy  on  the 
royal  line  of  that  kingdom. 

In  any  other  literature  the  mythical  character  of 
what  we  have  been  considering  would  be  taken  for 
granted.  There  were  attempts  by  various  peoples 
in  ancient  times  both  before  and  after  the  age  of 
Israel's  literary  development  to  account  for  the 
origin  of  the  world  and  the  human  race,  and 
various  mythical  accounts  of  the  birth  and  growth 
of  nations.  There  were  personifications  of  places 
and  of  tribes  and  nations  with  names  of  imaginary 
ancestors  and  founders,  and  the  chief  peculiarity 
of  those  of  the  Hebrews  is  their  close  connection 
with  the  development  of  a  religious  system  of  a 
high  order,  which  took  a  hold  upon  mankind  and 
maintained  it  for  centuries,  moulding  human  faith 
upon  enduring  lines. 

The  ancient  poem  introduced  into  one  of  the 
old  narratives  which  were  blended  In  the  Book  of 
Genesis,  known  as  "  Jacob's  Blessing  "  of  his  sons, 
affords  a  striking  illustration  of  the  use  of  these 
personal  names  as  applied  to  the  so-called  tribes 
of  Israel.  This  antedates  the  Yahwist  narrative 
and  must  have  been  written  before  the  division  of 
the  kingdom  on  the  death  of  Solomon.  In  spite 
of    its    strong    personifications,    its    reference    to 


S6      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

divisions  of  the  people  rather  than  to  Individual 
persons  Is  quite  obvious.  It  Is  Inconceivable  as 
the  utterance  of  a  dying  patriarch  speaking  of  his 
living  sons,  and  comprehensible  only  as  a  poetical 
description  of  the  characteristics  of  the  several 
tribes  or  sections,  when  the  sceptre  was  held  by 
Judah  after  a  conflict  with  enemies,  while  Joseph 
was  a  flourishing  region.  The  historic  degrada- 
tion of  the  oldest  tribe  for  Its  obscure  dereliction 
is  referred  to.  The  next  two  are  condemned  for 
violence,  In  apparent  allusion  to  the  attack  upon 
Shechem,  mythically  figured  in  the  story  of  Dinah. 
They  were  to  be  scattered  In  Israel,  as  Simeon  and 
Levi  had  disappeared  as  separate  tribes,  and  Levi 
was  evidently  not  then  regarded  as  the  father 
of  the  priesthood.  There  Is  no  reference  to 
Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  but  in  the  narrative  just 
preceding  the  poem  they  had  received  a  blessing 
which  gave  Ephraim  precedence,  though  Manas- 
seh was  the  elder.  Benjamin,  who  In  the  story  is 
depicted  as  a  beloved  child,  is  likened  In  the  poem 
to  a  ravening  wolf,  In  allusion  to  predatory  ex- 
ploits of  the  tribe. 

There  Is  a  much  later  poem  personifying  the 
tribes,  known  as  the  "  Blessing  of  Moses  "  for 
the  children  of  Israel,  which  was  Introduced  Into 
the  Book  of  Deuteronomy.  This  distinctly  orig- 
inated In  the  Northern  Kingdom  some  time  after 
the  division,  when  it  was  strongly  conscious  of  Its 
own  pre-eminence.     It  has  a  prayer  that  Reuben 


THE  MYTHS  OF  ISRAEL  57 

may  yet  survive,  but  It  Ignores  the  existence  of 
Simeon.  By  this  time  Levi  Is  recognised  as  the 
father  of  the  priesthood  and  without  tribal  re- 
lation. Judah  Is  referred  to  slightingly  as  the  one 
that  Is  separated  from  his  people.  Benjamin  Is 
the  beloved  of  the  Lord,  but  a  lavish  wealth  of 
blessing  Is  bestowed  upon  Joseph,  and  his  divi- 
sion Into  Ephralm  and  Manasseh  Is  recognised. 
As  In  the  other  poem  the  reference  to  the  other 
Sons  of  Jacob  Imply  tribal  or  territorial  charac- 
teristics. 

There  Is  another  significant  use  of  these  per- 
sonal names  for  tribes  or  clans  In  a  fragment  of 
the  Yahwist  narrative  which  Is  Included  In  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Book  of  Judges,  where  "  the  Lord," 
that  is,  the  God  Yahweh,  is  represented  as  saying 
that  Judah  should  go  up  first  to  fight  against  the 
Canaanltes,  and  Judah  says  to  Simeon  his  brother 
"  Come  up  with  me  into  my  lot  that  we  may  fight 
against  the  Canaanltes  and  I  likewise  will  go  with 
thee  Into  thy  lot.  So  Simeon  went  with  him." 
This  throws  an  unmistakable  light  upon  the  man- 
ner of  personifying  the  clans  of  Israel  and  the 
process  of  evolving  from  their  names  and  relation- 
ship the  stories  of  the  patriarch  and  his  ancestors 
and  his  sons. 

Having  thus  considered  the  character  and  pur- 
pose of  these  ethnic  myths,  we  are  better  prepared 
to  bestow  a  glance  upon  the  manner  In  which  they 
are  used  in  the  composite  narratives,  from  the  ap- 


58      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

pearance  of  Abram,  or  Abraham,  to  the  death 
of  Jacob,  whose  sons  were  kept  in  Egypt.  Abram 
is  called  by  "  the  Lord  " —  this  phrase  is  com- 
monly used  in  our  English  version  for  the  name 
Yahweh  —  out  of  "  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,"  with 
his  brother  and  the  son  of  a  deceased  brother,  and, 
after  sojourning  for  a  time  in  Haran  for  the  propa- 
gation of  the  Syrian  branch  of  the  family  by  his 
brother,  he  is  made  to  traverse  the  land  to  be  con- 
secrated as  the  heritage  of  his  descendants,  and  to 
go  down  into  Egypt  in  a  time  of  famine  to 
demonstrate  the  care  of  "  the  Lord  ''  over  him  and 
over  his  wife's  chastity.  Then  Is  presented  the 
episode  of  the  separation  from  him  of  his  nephew 
Lot,  who  was  to  become  the  progenitor  of  the 
Ammonites  and  Moabites,  these  being  degraded 
as  the  offspring  of  drunkenness  and  incest.  Lot 
dwelt  in  the  cities  of  the  plain  of  Jordan,  while 
Abram  remained  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  with  his 
tent  at  the  Oak  of  Mamre. 

It  was  one  of  the  latest  revisers  of  those  old 
tales  who  took  occasion  here  to  introduce  the  ac- 
count of  the  invasion  of  the  Jordan  plain  from 
the  east,  in  which  Abram  appears  as  a  warrior 
chieftain  to  rescue  Lot  from  his  captors  and  do 
homage  to  the  King  of  Salem  (peace)  and  priest  of 
God  Most  High.  There  may  have  been  some  old 
tradition  to  found  it  upon,  but  it  Is  plainly  a  work 
of  the  Imagination,  and  Is  quite  Incongruous  with 
what  precedes  and  follows  it. 


THE  MYTHS  OF  ISRAEL  59 

Although  the  description  of  the  destruction  of 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  the  escape  of  Lot  and  the 
birth  of  Moab  and  Ammon  In  the  mountain,  might 
naturally  be  expected  to  come  in  here,  it  is  pre- 
ceded by  a  somewhat  lurid  account  of  the  solemn 
promise  of  God  to  Abram,  In  which  the  hand  of 
the  Elohist  writer  Is  discerned  for  the  first  time, 
and  which  was  elaborated  by  a  late  redactor. 
Here  also  appears  the  Yahwist  version,  somewhat 
modified  by  later  hands,  of  the  birth  of  Ishmael, 
child  of  the  Egyptian  handmaid  Hagar,  and  their 
expulsion  from  the  family  by  the  jealousy  of  Saral. 
What  follows  that,  as  a  formal  account  of  the 
covenant  between  God  and  Abram  of  which  cir- 
cumcision Is  made  the  token,  and  of  the  change  of 
names  to  Abraham  and  Sarah,  with  the  first  ver- 
sion of  the  promise  of  the  birth  of  Isaac,  Is  from 
the  pen  of  the  post-exilic  writer  who  made  these 
narratives  the  prelude  and  framework  of  the 
elaborate  system  known  as  the  Priests'  Code. 

In  the  story  of  the  iniquity  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah,  the  destruction  of  the  cities  and  the 
escape  of  Lot,  which  follows  after  this  interrup- 
tion, there  is  an  Interesting  view  of  the  Yahwist's 
conception  of  deity.  In  harmony  with  that  which 
appears  In  the  story  of  the  Garden  of  Eden.  Yah- 
weh  appears  In  the  guise  of  a  man  with  two  at- 
tendants, and  holds  familiar  converse  with  Abra- 
ham, has  a  mild  controversy  with  him,  and  makes 
the  promise  of  the  birth  of  a  son,  which  causes 


6o      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

the  amusement  that  explains  the  name  of  Isaac. 
The  whole  episode,  Is  in  the  alluring  manner  of 
this  greatest  of  primitive  writers  and  was  not 
marred  by  later  editing. 

The  Elohist  writer,  whose  work  was  woven 
more  or  less  closely  with  that  of  the  Yahwist  from 
here  on,  had  an  account  of  an  experience  of  Abra- 
ham and  Sarah  with  Abimelech,  King  of  Gerar, 
which  was  a  variant  of  the  Yahwist's  account  of 
the  experience  of  Abram  and  Sarai  In  Egypt. 
Notwithstanding  the  similarity,  this  Is  also  pre- 
served in  the  narrative,  while,  later  on,  a  similar 
experience  of  Isaac  and  Rebekah  with  this  King  of 
Gerar  is  drawn  from  the  Yahwist  source,  revealing 
the  confusion  caused  by  making  from  variants  of 
the  same  mythical  story  different  experiences  of 
characters  represented  to  be  real.  After  the  state- 
ments regarding  the  birth  of  Isaac  the  Elohist's 
version  of  the  ejection  of  Hagar  and  Ishmael  Is 
Introduced,  which  Is  not  made  wholly  consistent 
with  that  of  the  earlier  writer.  From  the  same 
source  Is  the  account  of  the  "  Offering  of  Isaac," 
which  may  be  taken  not  only  as  exhibiting  the 
obedience  and  faith  of  Abraham,  but  as  symbolis- 
ing the  substitution  of  animal  for  human  sacrifice. 
The  prosaic  account  of  the  death  and  burial  of 
Sarah  Is  an  Interpolation  of  the  priestly  writers 
after  the  exile. 

The  story  of  the  wooing  of  Rebekah  by  proxy 
and  the  marriage  of  Isaac  Is  a  charming  passage 


THE  MYTHS  OF  ISRAEL  6i 

from  the  epic  genius  known  as  the  Yahwist.  That 
of  the  birth  of  Esau  and  Jacob  and  the  supplant- 
ing of  the  first-born  by  the  second-born  twin  is 
somewhat  confused  by  a  mixture  of  material  from 
the  two  sources,  and  imperfect  efforts  to  blend  it 
harmoniously.  Close  analysis  has  been  made,  but 
it  Is  not  necessary  to  our  purpose.  It  was  the 
Elohlst  who  made  Esau  a  red  and  hairy  man,  and 
the  Yahwist  who  made  the  father  blind.  The  lat- 
ter never  attempts  to  disguise  the  craft  or  duplicity 
of  his  characters.  There  Is  a  similar  mingling  of 
material  in  the  account  of  Jacob's  migration  to 
Syria,  his  relations  with  Laban,  the  birth  of  his 
children,  and  his  encounter  with  his  brother  of 
Edom  on  his  return  to  Canaan.  Upon  the  myth- 
ical character  and  significance  of  these  incidents 
there  Is  no  further  occasion  to  enlarge.  Consider- 
ing the  time  and  manner  of  their  production,  cen- 
turies after  the  supposed  events,  to  argue  for  their 
reality  as  history  is  to  Indulge  in  nonsense. 

The  same  Is  true  of  the  delightful  story  of 
Joseph  and  his  brethren,  which  is  also  somewhat 
marred  by  an  Imperfect  blending  of  material.  The 
most  picturesque,  pathetic  and  lifelike  touches  are 
always  those  of  that  unknown  Homer  of  the 
Hebrews  called  the  Yahwist  or  Jehovist.  That 
writer  lived  at  the  time  when  the  Kingdom  of  that 
part  of  Israel  known  as  Joseph,  or  as  Ephralm 
and  Manasseh,  was  at  its  highest  estate,  while 
Judah,  after  the  death  of  Solomon  and  before  the 


62      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

time  of  Hezeklah,  was  in  eclipse.  The  pride  and 
sense  of  superiority  of  the  northern  kingdom  crops 
out  at  many  points  in  spite  of  the  privilege  which 
Judean  writers  exercised  so  freely  of  editing  its 
literature  after  the  kingdom  was  destroyed.  This 
sense  of  superiority  was  exemplified  at  a  much  later 
time  in  the  reply  of  King  Jehoash  to  Amaziah  of 
Judah  when  he  proposed  an  alliance.  "  The 
thistle  that  was  in  Lebanon  sent  to  the  cedar  that 
was  in  Lebanon  saying,  *  Give  thy  daughter  to 
my  son  to  wife ' ;  and  there  passed  a  wild  beast 
that  was  in  Lebanon  and  trod  down  the  thistle." 
The  Yahwist  writer  appeared  but  two  genera- 
tions or  so  after  the  return  of  Jeroboam  from  his 
sojourn  in  Egypt,  to  become  the  first  king  of  Israel 
and  to  lord  it  over  Judah.  It  was  in  that  interval 
that  the  myths  arose  regarding  the  title  to  the  land 
of  Canaan,  the  origin  of  the  tribes  of  Israel  in 
the  Sons  of  Jacob,  and  the  reasons  for  going  down 
to  Egypt  to  fall  into  galling  servitude.  What 
companions  Jeroboam  had  in  Egypt,  what  lore  he 
may  have  brought  from  there,  we  do  not  know, 
but  there  is  evidence,  even  in  the  unfriendly 
record,  that  he  was  a  man  of  great  ability  and 
was  treated  with  consideration  by  the  reigning 
Pharaoh.  It  is  probable  that  out  of  that  sojourn 
grew  the  first  accounts  of  the  deliverance  and  sug- 
gestions for  the  story  of  Joseph's  glory  and  great- 
ness and  the  humiliation  of  his  brethren.  It  is 
certain  that  there  could  be  nothing  historical  in  the 


THE  MYTHS  OF  ISRAEL  63 

accounts  of  what  preceded  the  servitude,  and  even 
those  of  the  escape,  so  long  before  they  appeared, 
could  be  nothing  else  than  legendary,  with  mythical 
elaboration.  When  for  ages  there  are  no  written 
records,  tradition  may  carry  through  memory 
from  generation  to  generation  the  main  outline  of 
events  and  the  chief  features  of  great  characters, 
but  only  imagination  can  supply  details  and  furnish 
thought  and  language  to  the  departed  actors;  and 
whatever  Is  above  the  range  of  common  human 
experience  comes  necessarily  from  invention. 

The  account  of  the  exodus  from  Egypt  is  hardly 
less  mythical  than  that  of  the  origin  of  the  tribes 
and  their  title  to  the  land  which  they  wrested  by 
barbarous  warfare  from  the  Canaanites.  How 
could  It  be  otherwise  after  the  lapse  of  nearly  five 
centuries  between  the  event  and  the  earliest  writ- 
ten material  of  the  narratives  which  were  after- 
wards woven  together  and  elaborated  to  form  the 
framework  of  the  latest  development  of  the  law, 
In  the  time  of  the  priests  who  restored  the  worship 
at  Jerusalem  after  the  exile?  During  that  event- 
ful period  there  had  been  a  change  of  language 
and  the  adoption  of  writing  from  Phoenicia,  and 
no  Inscriptions  or  authentic  memorials  reaching 
back  of  the  kings  have  ever  been  discovered.  Con- 
sidering that  the  name  Moses  virtually  meant  de- 
liverer, or  one  that  draws  out,  even  the  personality 
for  which  It  stands  recedes  Into  the  realm  of  myth, 
though  there  must  have  been  a  potent  and  resolute 


64      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

leader  to  take  the  "  mixed  multitude  "  from  the 
borders  of  Egypt  through  the  perils  and  trials  of 
the  wilderness  to  the  Jordan  Valley,  an  achieve- 
ment which  according  to  tradition  had  occupied 
forty  years.  If  there  was  such  a  period,  the  actual 
incidents  of  the  prolonged  experience  are  unre- 
corded and  the  character  of  the  condensed  story 
marks  it  as  in  the  main  fictitious. 

This  is  necessarily  so  of  such  happenings  as  the 
birth  of  Moses,  his  meeting  with  the  God  Yahweh 
at  Mount  Horeb,  when  the  deity  was  revealed  in 
fire  in  a  bush  that  was  not  consumed,  and  his 
personal  converse  with  that  divinity,  who  had  dis- 
covered the  oppression  of  his  people  in  Egypt  and 
determined  to  bring  them  out  with  a  mighty  hand 
and  an  outstretched  arm,  of  the  miraculous  but 
cruel  afflictions  visited  upon  the  Egyptians,  to 
humiliate  their  stubborn  ruler  and  demonstrate  the 
might  and  implacable  vengeance  of  Israel's  God, 
of  the  crossing  of  the  Red  Sea  and  the  fulmination 
of  divine  commands  from  Mount  Sinai,  the  later 
name  for  Horeb,  and  of  the  incidents  of  the  long 
journey  with  their  supernatural  accompaniments. 
To  argue  for  the  reality  of  these  things  is  to  re- 
nounce the  benefit  of  all  modem  knowledge  and 
discard  the  function  of  reason  which  men  have 
been  training  in  these  later  centuries. 

It  is  sufficient  to  consider  the  reality  of  the 
deity  as  conceived  of  by  the  earliest  writers  of 
Israel,  when  it  came  to  a  struggle  or  a  conflict 


THE  MYTHS  OF  ISRAEL  6s 

with  the  enemies  of  their  people.  This  God,  who 
had  promised  to  his  own  peculiar  people  a  land 
occupied  by  others,  to  be  seized  by  the  ruthless 
extermination  of  Its  Inhabitants,  was  pictured  as 
lying  In  wait  In  his  mountain  fastness  until  the  cry 
of  his  oppressed  people  reached  him,  and  then 
rescuing  them  by  an  exhibition  of  terror  and 
cruelty  which  would  be  universally  denounced  as 
barbarous  If  It  came  within  the  compass  of  any 
human  despot  and  was  exercised  by  him  to  ac- 
complish his  purpose.  To  say  nothing  of  the 
other  plagues,  the  slaughter  of  the  first-born  of 
all  the  families  of  Egypt  is  a  horror  compared 
with  which  the  equally  mythical  massacre  by 
Herod  of  the  children  of  Bethlehem  sinks  into  in- 
significance. Was  It  a  real  deity  who  counselled 
the  spoiling  of  the  Egyptians,  who  broke  out  in 
fiery  wrath  when  his  people  complained  and  had 
to  be  remonstrated  with  by  his  servant  to  prevent 
him  from  killing  them,  who  did  kill  thousands  of 
them  by  sending  fiery  serpents  and  famine  and 
pestilence  among  them  as  a  penalty  for  disobedi- 
ence, and  who  descended  upon  a  mountain  top  in 
clouds  and  darkness  and  revealed  his  presence  In 
lightning  and  thunder,  declaring  that  he  would 
break  through  all  bounds  and  destroy  the  people 
if  they  attempted  to  ''  gaze  upon  the  Lord?  " 

Was  It  not  rather  the  conception  of  a  rude  age 
and  the  creation  of  a  vivid  imagination,  to  Impress 
the  people  with  awe  and  give  a  tremendous  sane- 


66      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

tion  to  the  rules  of  conduct  and  the  worship  de- 
manded of  them  by  their  leaders  and  teachers? 
It  does  not  follow  that  there  was  deliberate  or 
conscious  invention  or  intent  to  deceive,  any  more 
than  in  the  case  of  the  mythology  of  Egypt  or 
Chaldea,  of  Greece  and  Rome  or  of  Mediaeval 
Europe.  The  writers  may  have  thought  their 
imagination  to  be  the  inspiration  of  their  God  and 
believed  what  they  wrote  or  said  to  be  true,  for 
they  did  not  distinguish  thought  from  knowledge 
where  real  knowledge  was  unattainable.  There 
may  have  been  traces  of  tradition  upon  which  to 
string  the  narratives  that  run  through  the  books 
of  Exodus  and  of  Numbers  but  in  the  main  they 
are  mythical,  the  imagining  of  poetic  genius. 
Their  vivid  realism  and  the  Insistent  claim  of  a 
divine  origin  have  long  imposed  upon  a  credulous 
world. 

These  narratives  are  of  a  composite  character 
throughout.  Passages  have  been  identified  by  the 
learned  as  from  the  Yahwist  document,  others 
from  the  Elohist  and  more  from  the  blend  pro- 
duced from  these  by  later  writers.  There  are 
interpolations  by  the  priestly  writers  of  the  exile 
and  after,  including  most  of  the  elaboration  of 
the  law  in  the  later  chapters  of  Exodus,  practi- 
cally all  of  Leviticus  and  a  considerable  part 
of  Numbers.  Deuteronomy  Is  to  be  consid- 
ered as  a  separate  production.  The  mythical 
element  runs  into  the  account  of  the  conquest  in 


THE  MYTHS  OF  ISRAEL  67 

the  Book  of  Joshua,  and  the  legends  that  follow 
are  not  wholly  free  from  it.  The  Book  of  Exodus, 
as  far  as  the  lurid  description  of  Mount  Sinai  and 
the  fulmination  of  the  law,  is  for  the  most  part 
from  the  composite  production  of  the  so-called 
Yahwist  and  Elohist  as  combined  or  blended  at  a 
later  time  and  finally  edited  after  the  exile.  The 
scraps  of  genealogy  and  the  instructions  for  the 
observance  of  the  passover  are  interpolations  from 
the  late  priestly  writings,  and  the  account  of  the 
feeding  upon  manna  before  the  mountain  is 
reached  is  elaborated  from  the  same  source.  The 
triumphal  song  after  crossing  the  Red  Sea  is  gen- 
erally believed  by  scholars  to  have  been  included 
in  one  of  the  ancient  documents;  but  some,  in  view 
of  the  reference  immediately  afterwards  to  the 
Song  of  Miriam,  of  which  only  a  fragment  is  pre- 
served, regard  it  as  a  later  interpolation.  The 
battle  with  Amalek  at  the  end  of  chapter  xvii, 
the  wise  counsel  of  Moses's  father-in-law  in  chap- 
ter xxviii,  and  the  description  of  the  scene  on 
Mount  Sinai  in  chapter  xix,  are  ascribed  to  the 
Elohist.  The  version  of  the  passage  generally 
known  as  the  Ten  Commandments,  introduced  im- 
mediately after  the  description,  is  probably  a  late 
recension.  The  real  purpose  of  the  scene  was  ap- 
parently to  introduce  what  is  designated  as  the 
"  Book  of  the  Covenant,"  beginning  at  xx,  22, 
and  extending  to  xxiii,  19.  This  was  incorpo- 
rated in  one  of  the  older  documents,  but  was  sub- 


68      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

sequently  modified  to  some  extent.  The  narrative 
is  resumed  after  that,  where  it  contains  the  state- 
ment that  Moses  went  up  on  the  mountain  with 
Aaron  and  Abihu  and  came  down  to  tell  the  people 
"  all  the  words  of  the  Lord  '*  and  to  write  them 
down.  This  is  interrupted  by  a  diverse  and  much 
later  account  of  Moses  going  up  with  Joshua  and 
waiting  six  days  for  an  interview  with  "  the  Lord  " 
and  remaining  on  the  mountain  forty  days  and 
forty  nights. 

The  next  six  chapters,  containing  the  directions 
for  constructing  the  tabernacle,  the  tent  of  meeting, 
&c.,  are  unquestionably  post-exilic,  belonging  to 
what  the  scholars  call  the  "  Priests'  Code,"  as  are 
the  subsequent  chapters  telling  how  the  instruc- 
tions were  executed.  The  absurdity  of  supposing 
that  anything  like  this  was  actually  done  In  the 
Wilderness  of  Sinai  Is  sufficiently  obvious,  but  the 
purpose  was  to  give  an  ancient  and  divine  sanc- 
tion to  the  ceremonial  devices  of  the  second  temple. 
Between  these  two  descriptions  of  the  trappings  of 
the  temple  prototype  there  is  another  composite 
passage  of  peculiar  interest.  It  begins  with  the 
account  of  the  making  of  the  golden  calf,  which 
was  intended  at  the  time  of  its  production  by  the 
Elohist  writer  as  a  lesson  and  a  warning  to  those 
of  the  Northern  Kingdom  who  were  enticed  to 
heathenism  by  the  symbols  set  up  by  Jeroboam  I 
for  the  worship  at  Bethel  and  Dan.  It  had  been 
previously  represented  in  the  narrative  that  ''  the 


THE  MYTHS  OF  ISRAEL  69 

Lord "  promised  to  give  Moses  two  tables  of 
stone  upon  which  he  had  written  "  the  law  and  the 
commandment."  Now  It  Is  said  that  Moses  after 
dissuading  "  the  Lord "  from  destroying  the 
people  In  the  heat  of  passion  came  down  with  the 
two  tables  of  stone  written  on  both  sides  by  God 
himself,  broke  all  the  commandments  in  anger 
at  what  met  his  view  by  throwing  them  down, 
and  burnt  and  ground  to  powder  an  Image  made 
of  gold,  or  perhaps  of  gilded  wood.  After  the 
wrath  of  *'  the  Lord  "  has  been  appeased  by  the 
slaughter  of  about  three  thousand  men  and  he 
had  renewed  his  promise  and  his  threat,  Moses 
was  directed  to  hew  two  new  tables  of  stone  and 
take  them  up  the  mountain  for  the  Lord  to  write 
upon.  This  he  did,  and,  after  a  parley  with  the 
Lord,  certain  distinct  covenants  were  uttered  and 
Moses  was  directed  to  write  them  down;  and 
after  again  being  with  the  Lord  forty  days  and 
forty  nights  he  "  wrote  upon  the  tables  the 
words  of  the  covenant,  the  ten  commandments," 
manifestly  meaning  the  words  that  had  then  been 
given  him.  This  is  what  the  ancient  writers 
meant  by  the  ten  commandments,  and  what  we 
call  the  decalogue  was  a  later  production,  of  which 
there  was  more  than  one  version.  The  descrip- 
tion of  Moses  coming  down  from  the  mountain 
with  a  shining  face  and  having  to  put  on  a  veil 
when  speaking  to  the  "  congregation  "  is  from  the 
late  material  of  the  post-exilic  priests. 


70      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

From  the  same  source  Is  all  the  elaboration  of 
the  law,  the  commands,  the  observances  of  sacri- 
fice and  worship  that  follow  in  Leviticus  and 
Numbers.  The  more  or  less  mythical  narra- 
tives of  the  irregular  march  through  "  the  wilder- 
ness," that  is,  the  deserts  of  Arabia,  are  resumed 
near  the  end  of  chapter  x  of  the  latter  book,  and 
we  get  the  mixture  of  ancient  material  again, 
with  here  and  there  intimations  of  still  older  po- 
etic sources.  Here  is  the  original  account  of  the 
feeding  on  manna  and  the  miraculous  supply  of 
quails  with  which  the  people  were  sickened  of 
their  complaining  by  being  smitten  with  a  "  very 
great  plague."  Here  also  we  find  the  story  of 
Miriam  stricken  with  leprosy  because  she  and 
Aaron  remonstrated  with  Moses  for  marrying  a 
Cushlte  woman.  There  Is  the  same  conception 
of  deity  as  a  jealous  being,  quickly  provoked  to 
wrath,  fierce  in  anger,  vengeful  toward  those  who 
disobeyed  him  and  toward  the  enemies  of  his  peo- 
ple, but  easily  mollified  by  evidences  of  repentance 
and  submission,—  surely  not  a  real  divinity  ac- 
cording to  any  rational  conception  now  possible, 
but  the  product  of  the  imagination  in  a  primitive 
time,  like  other  ancient  gods. 

The  descriptions  of  the  experience  on  that  mem- 
orable but  unremembered  journey  must  in  all 
reason  and  conscience  be  regarded  as  mythical  or 
as  fictitious.  There  are  evidences  here  and  there 
of  inventions  for  a  specific  purpose,  as  in  the  latest 


THE  MYTHS  OF  ISRAEL  71 

material  of  the  mixed  account  of  the  insurrection 
against  the  authority  of  Moses  and  Aaron  under 
the  leadership  of  Korah,  Dathan  and  Ablram. 
Tradition  of  some  such  Incident  appears  In  the 
older  narrative,  but  It  was  turned  to  account  by 
the  latest  revisers  to  establish  the  authority  of  the 
priesthood  In  the  family  of  Aaron  and  consecrate 
the  distinction  between  priests  and  Levltes,  which 
never  existed  before  the  exile.  In  connection 
with  this  also  there  is  an  exhibition  of  that  ruthless 
wrath  which  characterised  the  God  Yahweh  in 
those  troublous  times. 

There  is  relief  in  the  more  truly  mythical  epi- 
sodes, like  that  of  the  attempt  of  the  King  of 
Moab  to  repel  the  horde  that  was  invading  his 
kingdom  by  getting  the  prophet  Balaam  to  curse 
it.  There  are  two  accounts  of  this,  one  from  the 
Yahwist  and  the  other  from  the  Elohlst,  which  are 
imperfectly  harmonised  by  the  compiler  who 
adopted  both.  The  turning  of  the  intended  curse 
to  a  blessing  seems  in  the  two  accounts  to  be  a 
variation  of  poetic  material  from  a  common 
source,  much  older  than  either  of  them.  The 
picture  of  Israel  that  it  presents  could  hardly  have 
been  drawn  after  the  division  of  the  first  kingdom 
and  could  not  be  earlier  than  the  triumph  of  Da- 
vid and  the  preparation  for  the  glory  of  Solomon. 

The  enumeration  of  the  people,  the  establish- 
ment of  the  law  of  inheritance  and  the  various 
ordinances  regarding  sacrifices  and  offerings,  to- 


72      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

gether  with  the  allotment  of  tribes  in  the  promised 
land  and  the  review  of  the  various  stages  of  the 
journey,  in  short,  practically  all  of  the  Book  of 
Numbers  after  the  Balaam  episode  came  from 
the  late  material  of  the  priestly  writers.  The 
main  substance  of  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy  is 
a  version  of  the  law  discovered  in  the  time  of  Jo- 
siah  of  Judah,  with  introductory  discourses  of 
later  origin  attributed  to  Moses,  and  some  addi- 
tions and  variations.  Near  to  its  close  is  the  po- 
etical production  known  as  the  "  Song  of  Moses  " 
which  probably  had  its  origin  in  the  time  of  the 
exile,  and  the  so-called  "  Blessing  of  Moses," 
which  is  much  older  and  has  been  already  suffi- 
ciently considered.  The  book  ends  with  the  ac- 
count of  the  death  of  Moses  before  the  invasion 
of  Canaan.  This  is  a  comparatively  late  addi- 
tion to  the  older  narratives.  The  leadership 
passed  to  Joshua  with  the  necessary  divine  sanc- 
tion, and  his  name  was  connected  with  the  book 
which  gives  an  account  of  the  conquest,  as  that  of 
Moses  was  associated  with  all  that  preceded  it, 
when  the  mass  of  Epic  literature  was  finally  com- 
pacted. 

The  mythical  element  strongly  asserts  itself  in 
the  material  of  Joshua  derived  from  the  Yah- 
wist  and  the  Elohist  sources,  as  a  considerable 
part  of  it  was.  This  appears  as  clearly  in  the 
story  of  crossing  the  Jordan  as  in  that  of  crossing 
the  Red  Sea,  and  is  plain  enough  in  that  of  the 


THE  MYTHS  OF  ISRAEL  73 

siege  and  capture  of  Jericho.  It  is  unmistakable 
In  the  account  of  Joshua's  battles,  the  first  failure 
at  AI  on  account  of  the  sin  of  Achan,  and  the  tri- 
umph after  the  offender  had  been  stoned  to  death; 
the  wily  proceeding  of  the  emissaries  of  GIbeon 
whereby  certain  cities  were  saved  from  destruc- 
tion, and,  according  to  later  revisers  of  the  ma- 
terial, the  subjection  of  Canaanltes  to  menial  serv- 
ice was  justified;  the  league  of  the  five  kings  of  the 
Amorltes  and  their  fate,  and  the  subjection  of 
King  Jabin  of  Hazor  and  his  allies. 

The  systematic  account  of  the  extermination 
of  the  Inhabitants  and  devastation  of  the  towns 
of  various  sections  of  the  land,  and  the  al- 
lotment to  the  different  tribes  of  Israel,  Is 
of  later  production  and  fictitious  rather  than 
mythical.  It  was  Intended  to  prefigure  the 
restoration  of  the  Inheritance  after  the  return 
from  exile.  Most  of  this  material  was  de- 
rived from  the  framework  of  the  "  Priests' 
Code  "  In  post-exUIc  days.  The  account  of 
Joshua's  farewell  address  In  chapter  xxIII  Is, 
however,  older,  and  his  rehearsing  of  past 
events  before  the  tribes  gathered  at  Shechem, 
and  his  urgent  warning  against  idolatry.  Is  ascribed 
by  the  learned  to  the  Elohlst  writer,  who  lived 
and  wrote  In  the  anxious  days  of  Jeroboam  II, 
when  the  warning  was  most  needed.  The  last 
trace  of  these  distinctly  mythological  productions 
is  found  at  the  beginning  of  the  Book  of  Judges. 


HEROIC   AND    HISTORIC    LEGENDS 

One  of  the  most  interesting  portions  of  the 
Hebrew  epic  is  that  which  covers  the  legendary 
period  between  the  conquest  of  Canaan  and  the 
establishment  of  the  monarchy.  Much  that  is 
legendary  is  mingled  with  the  mythical  and  with  a 
later  fictitious  element,  in  the  account  of  the  con- 
quest itself,  and  the  character  of  Joshua  is  hardly 
more  real  than  that  of  Moses  or  Aaron.  But  tra- 
ditions of  the  time  when  there  was  no  King  in  Is- 
rael and  heroes  arose  to  lead  the  people  to  bat- 
tle when  beset  by  enemies,  came  nearer  to  the 
light  of  history,  and  the  original  form  of  the 
stories  of  these  champions  and  their  exploits  were 
probably  written  down  earlier  than  any  of  the 
other  narratives  or  perhaps  anything  in  the  whole 
composite  work,  except  a  few  ancient  fragments. 
The  pristine  flavour  was  preserved  through  all  the 
processes  of  compilation,  revision  and  redaction. 

But  the  period  was  a  long  one,  of  two  centuries 
or  more,  and  one  of  obscure  transition,  with  scat- 
tered and  unorganised  tribes  slowly  gaining  their 
ascendancy  and  imperfectly  coalescing.  Few  were 
the  events  preserved  in  memory  to  furnish  mate- 

74 


HEROIC  AND  HISTORIC  LEGENDS     75 

rial  for  the  first  writers,  more  than  a  century  after 
the  latest  of  these  events  were  passed.  It  was  an 
age  of  relative  barbarism,  of  low  conceptions  of 
deity  and  humanity  and  of  the  relations  of  men 
to  each  other  and  to  their  gods.  The  champions 
who  arose  in  time  of  trouble  became  rulers  only 
locally  and  temporarily,  when  they  became  such 
at  all,  and  the  title  by  which  they  were  known  is 
imperfectly  rendered  in  English  by  the  word 
"  Judges."  In  what  is  called  the  Book  of 
Judges  wc  must  distinguish  that  which  covers 
these  legends  of  heroes,  contained  In  the  chapters 
from  the  third  to  the  sixteenth,  and  the  later  ap- 
pendix of  five  chapters  relating  to  the  migration 
of  the  Danltes  and  to  the  war  upon  Benjamin. 

These  legends  first  appeared  in  written  form 
sometime  after  the  division  into  two  kingdoms 
and  in  that  known  as  Israel,  or  Ephraim,  which 
held  that  of  Judah  almost  in  contempt,  notwith- 
standing the  achievements  of  David  and  Solomon. 
When  they  were  afterwards  compiled  into  a  con- 
tinuous narrative  there  was  an  attempt  to  fill  the 
gaps  with  the  names  of  other  "  judges  "  than  the 
heroes  of  these  tales,  but  there  were  scarcely  any 
exploits  remembered  with  which  to  credit  them. 
We  are  told  of  a  Shamgar  who  saved  Israel  by 
smiting  six  hundred  Philistines  with  an  ox  goad, 
and  of  others  who  had  thirty  sons  that  rode  on 
asses'  colts  or  thirty  sons  and  thirty  daughters, 
these    apparently    being    symbolical    expressions 


76      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

for  the  domain  they  ruled.  Still  later,  when 
this  literature  passed  into  the  possession  of  Ju- 
dah,  after  the  destruction  of  Samaria,  and  when 
the  theocratic  doctrine  was  developed,  which  at- 
tributed all  trouble  or  calamity  to  the  anger  of 
"  the  Lord  '*  when  his  people  sinned  or  provoked 
his  jealousy  by  wandering  after  other  gods,  and 
credited  every  deliverance  or  triumph  to  his  favour 
after  the  people  repented  or  had  been  duly  chas- 
tised, there  was  a  revision  which  introduced  this 
doctrine  as  an  explanation  of  the  events.  In  this 
process  there  was  some  mutilation  of  the  narra- 
tives, and  in  some  cases  there  is  evidence  of  inter- 
polation or  the  blending  of  more  than  one  version 
of  the  same  episode. 

In  the  final  redaction  of  the  "  book  "  after  the 
exile  a  summary  account  of  the  conquest  was  pre- 
fixed to  it,  which  is  believed  to  have  come  from 
the  Yahwist  document,  of  which  so  much  use  had 
been  made  in  the  preceding  books,  and  the  occupa- 
tion of  the  land  of  Canaan  was  made  to  follow  the 
death  of  Joshua  instead  of  being  achieved  by  him, 
and  to  be  an  imperfect  conquest  instead  of  a 
complete  one.  This  prefix  with  the  exception  of 
the  opening  clause,  which  places  the  conquest  after 
the  death  of  Joshua  had  evidently  been  adopted 
by  the  theocratic  compiler,  for  the  latter  part  of  it 
is  Interlarded  with  his  general  explanation  of  how 
the  Lord  delivered  the  people  into  the  hands  of 
spoilers  when   they  went   "  lusting  "    after   other 


HEROIC  AND  HISTORIC  LEGENDS     77 

gods,  and  raised  up  "  judges  "  to  rescue  them  when 
his  compassion  was  excited  by  their  groaning 
under  oppression.  He  also  explains  that  the  other 
tribes,  or  ''  nations,"  were  left  among  them  for 
the  purpose  of  testing,  or  "  proving,"  them  and 
finding  out  whether  they  could  be  made  to  obey 
the  commandments  of  the  Lord,  "  which  he  com- 
manded their  fathers  by  the  hand  of  Moses."  It 
is  he  who  gives  the  first  example  of  oppression  by 
the  King  of  Mesopotamia  and  of  the  rescue  by 
Othnlel,  and  preludes  the  story  of  Ehud  and  the 
fat  King  of  Moab  with  his  customary  explanation 
of  the  occasion  for  it;  but  it  Is  a  late  editor,  or 
redactor,  who  supplies  the  chronological  scheme 
of  forty  year  or  twenty  year  or  eighty  year  peri- 
ods. This  was  based  upon  an  artificial  manner 
of  reckoning  by  generations  and  making  twelve 
generations  from  the  exodus  to  the  completion  of 
the  temple. 

It  Is  with  Ehud  that  the  genuine  legends  begin. 
His  barbaric  act  of  duplicity  and  assassination  is 
related  with  a  certain  gusto,  and  the  summoning 
of  the  men  of  Ephralm  to  take  the  fords  of  the 
Jordan  against  the  Moabites  sums  up  In  a  few 
words  the  whole  conflict.  The  statement  of  the 
slaughter  of  ten  thousand  and  the  subduing  of 
Moab  so  that  Israel  had  rest  for  eighty  years  Is 
one  of  the  characteristic  additions  of  the  later  ed- 
itors. Brief  and  graphic  also  Is  the  account  of  the 
conflict  of  the  northern  tribes  with  SIsera,  under 


78      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

the  clarion  call  of  Deborah  the  prophetess  and 
with  the  aid  of  Jael,  the  wife  of  the  peaceful 
Kenlte.  The  preservation  of  the  antique  and  mu- 
tilated song  of  victory  suggests  the  source  of  the 
prose  narrative.  There  is  a  glimpse  of  the  ter- 
ror of  those  early  days  of  Shamgar,  the  son  of 
Anath,  and  of  the  awe  excited  by  the  coming  of 
storms  which  were  the  war  chariot  of  the  God  of 
Israel  as  he  swept  over  the  mountains  of  Seir  to 
the  rescue  of  his  people.  "  And  the  land  had  rest 
forty  years." 

The  mythical  element  Is  conspicuous  In  the 
story  of  the  choosing  of  Gideon  of  the  clan  of  Ab- 
iezer  in  Manasseh  to  repel  an  invasion  of  Mid- 
ianites,  who  were  eating  up  the  land  like  a  swarm 
of  locusts.  Back  of  it  are  the  relics  of  a  tale  of 
blood-avenging  In  which  Gideon's  clan  alone  was 
concerned,  on  account  of  the  killing  of  his  brothers 
by  two  Midianite  Chiefs,  whom  he  captured  and 
slew  with  his  three  hundred  men;  but  these  relics 
are  overlaid  with  an  account  of  a  general  slaugh- 
ter of  a  multitude  of  Midianites,  with  the  forces 
summoned  from  all  Manasseh  and  the  neighbour- 
ing tribes,  reduced  to  these  three  hundred  chosen 
warriors  of  Abiezer.  The  appearance  of  the 
God  Yahweh  In  the  guise  of  his  "  messenger," 
or  ''  the  angel  of  the  Lord,"  Is  In  the  manner  of 
similar  appearances  to  Abram  at  the  oaks  of 
Mamre  and  to  other  "  patriarchs  of  the  infant 
world."     The  incidents  attending  this  apparition, 


HEROIC  AND  HISTORIC  LEGENDS     79 

the  mode  of  reducing  the  fighting  force  to  three 
hundred  and  the  manner  of  the  battle  with  the 
MIdlanlte  horde  which  threw  it  into  panic  and  self- 
slaughter  by  a  demonstration  of  torches  and  bro- 
ken pitchers,  are  distinctly  mythical  In  character. 
Like  the  fall  of  the  walls  of  Jericho  at  the  blow- 
ing of  rams'  horns,  they  are  Intended  to  enforce 
the  idea  that  when  Israel  triumphs  it  is  the  act 
of  his  God  and  not  of  his  men.  Still,  there  Is 
no  reason  to  doubt  that  there  was  behind  the 
elaborate  story  a  genuine  tradition  of  a  MIdlan- 
lte Invasion  and  the  rising  of  Gideon  to  lead  the 
battle  against  it 

It  was  a  natural  impulse  of  the  people  to  de- 
sire to  make  a  permanent  ruler  of  Gideon,  who 
had  not  only  repelled  their  enemies  but  destroyed 
the  altar  of  Baal  and  set  up  the  worship  of  Yah- 
weh-Shalom  at  Ophrah,  with  such  an  Image 
as  was  later  forbidden  In  "  the  law."  It  was  a 
late  editor  of  the  account  that  made  this  a 
"  snare "  to  him  and  his  house.  The  original 
writer  saw  no  offence  In  It.  The  pristine  account 
of  the  manner  In  which  the  son  of  Gideon  and  a 
concubine  undertook  to  set  up  a  kingdom  for  him- 
self at  Shechem  and  was  brought  to  grief,  is  but 
slightly  marred  by  subsequent  editing  and  is  a 
vivid  picture  of  the  time. 

The  tale  of  Jephthah,  the  outlaw  of  Gilead, 
who  was  called  upon  to  repel  the  Ammonites  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Jordan  has  a  prelude  from  a 


8o      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

later  hand  than  that  of  the  original  writer,  and 
Is  broken  by  the  interpolation  of  a  long  message 
from  Jephthah  to  the  King  of  Ammon,  resenting 
the  claim  of  that  potentate  to  the  land  which  he 
had  invaded,  and  defining  the  jurisdiction  of  Yah- 
weh  and  Chemosh.  It  need  not  be  said  that  no 
such  message  could  have  been  conveyed  and  pre- 
served for  several  centuries,  but  it  could  easily  be 
injected  into  the  story  of  a  later  time,  as  it  un- 
doubtedly was.  In  the  touching  episode  of  Jeph- 
thah's  daughter  there  Is  a  reminder  of  days  when  a 
vow  to  Yahweh  might  mean  a  human  sacrifice. 

The  compiler  who  put  Shamger  after  Ehud  and 
Tola  and  Jair  after  Abimelech  as  "  judges  "  of 
Israel,  Interposed  three  successive  rulers  of  whom 
nothing  seems  to  have  been  known  except  the  num- 
ber of  their  sons  and  daughters  or  grandsons, 
between  Jephthah  and  Samson.  There  Is  myth 
again  in  the  account  of  the  birth  of  the  Danite 
hero,  similar  to  that  In  the  story  of  the  birth  of 
Isaac,  and  later  of  that  of  Samuel,  and  there  Is 
myth  In  his  exploits,  derived  rather  from  Phce- 
nician  or  Philistine  than  Hebrew  sources,  for  It  Is 
related  to  Hercules  and  to  sun  worship,  however 
remotely.  But  it  is  told  In  such  a  simple  matter- 
of-fact  and  diverting  way  that  It  seems  like  an 
Impertinence  to  subject  it  to  critical  analysis.  It 
Is  neither  matter  of  fact  nor  matter  of  history, 
but  what  actuality  may  have  been  back  of  It  we 
can  never  find  out.     We  may  be  sure,  however, 


HEROIC  AND  HISTORIC  LEGENDS     8i 

that  this  picture  book  giant  of  the  border  of  Phil- 
istia  and  Judah  did  not  "  judge  Israel  twenty 
years,"  and  the  author  of  the  picturesque  tale 
never  said  that  he  did.  That  was  the  assumption 
of  a  redactor.  The  minor  and  barely  mentioned 
judges  seem  to  have  been  interposed  to  make  up 
the  number  twelve. 

It  was  a  later  writer  who  told  how  the  Danites 
marched  in  a  body  from  the  borders  of  Philistia 
to  the  North,  smote  a  "  quiet  and  serene  "  and 
unsuspecting  people  with  the  edge  of  the  sword, 
burnt  their  town  and  took  possession  of  their  land, 
stealing  a  priest  of  Yahweh  and  the  trappings  of 
his  worship  on  the  way,  wherewith  to  set  up  the 
sanctuary  that  subsequently  existed  at  Dan.  This 
is  chiefly  interesting  for  the  glimpse  it  gives  of 
the  Yahweh  worship  of  the  time  and  the  spirit 
which  accompanied  it. 

The  gruesome  tale  of  the  Levite  of  Bethle- 
hem-Judah  and  his  concubine,  the  outrage  upon 
whom  at  Gibeah  led  to  the  fratricidal  war  that 
nearly  destroyed  Benjamin,  exhibits  a  state  of 
manners  in  the  midst  of  Israel  such  as  was  im- 
puted to  Sodom  in  another  tale  which  originated 
at  about  the  same  time.  Perhaps  the  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah  story  was  intended  as  a  warning  against 
such  things  as  were  tolerated  at  Gibeah  and  at  a 
later  time  were  disclosed  even  at  Jerusalem. 
Other  evidence  of  this  Benjamite  war  does  not 
exist,   and  the  explanation   of  its  cause  may  be 


v" 


82      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

mythical,  but  the  accounts  reflect  a  time  which 
history  could  not  depict  with  the  same  truthful 
colouring.  Two  accounts  of  the  actual  battles 
at  Gibeah  are  so  blended  as  to  confuse  the  effect 
at  some  points,  and  two  explanations  of  the  man- 
ner of  providing  the  surviving  sons  of  Benjamin 
with  Israelite  wives  are  imperfectly  reconciled; 
but  this  is  of  little  moment  compared  with  the 
calm  assumption  that  the  ruthless  slaughter  of 
women  and  children  in  such  contests  was  an  ac- 
cepted thing. 

Legendary  episodes  in  the  life  of  Israel  are  not 
confined  to  the  period  of  the  so-called  judges  nor 
Is  the  story  of  them  limited  to  the  book  that  bears 
that  title.  The  Book  of  Samuel,  divided  Into  two 
In  the  Greek  version  and  in  all  modern  versions, 
was  compiled  from  a  variety  of  material  and  more 
than  once  revised  before  its  character  was  fixed 
beyond  further  change.  Some  of  the  learned  crit- 
ics find  In  this  and  In  the  stories  of  the  Judges 
traces  of  both  of  those  old  documents,  the  Yah- 
wist  and  Elohist  narratives,  as  an  underlying 
stratum;  but  in  the  main  that  to  which  the  name 
of  Samuel  is  attached  was  made  up  from  sepa- 
rate accounts  of  the  '^  seer,"  or  prophet,  and  his 
relation  to  the  first  king,  of  Saul  in  his  relation 
to  David,  and  of  the  exploits  of  David  before  he 
became  a  king.  The  varied  material  underwent 
several  processes  of  compilation  and  recension,  and 
the  story  of  the  birth  and  childhood  of  Samuel 


HEROIC  AND  HISTORIC  LEGENDS     83 

which  forms  a  prelude  to  the  book  was  one  of  its 
latest  parts.  Much  older  is  the  account  which  fol- 
lows it  of  a  calamitous  conflict  with  the  Philistines 
in  which  "  the  ark  of  God  "  was  captured.  This 
represents  Israel  as  being  at  that  time  subject  to 
the  Philistines  and  as  fighting  against  its  subjec- 
tion, and  the  compiler  of  the  book  interjects  the 
statement  on  the  death  of  Eli  that  he  had  "  judged 
Israel  forty  years,"  implying  that  he  had  been 
the  ruler  of  the  people  at  Shiloh,  as  other 
"  judges  "  had  been  at  other  places.  The  proba- 
bility is  that  he  had  only  been  looked  up  to  and 
consulted  as  a  priest,  exercising  such  rule  as  ex- 
isted in  that  region  at  the  time. 

There  is  something  hardly  short  of  grotesque 
in  the  account  of  the  use  of  the  "  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant of  the  Lord  "  as  a  help  in  battle  and  an  ob- 
ject of  terror  to  the  enemy,  its  capture  by  the 
Philistines,  its  malignity  in  afflicting  its  captors, 
their  relief  by  sending  it  back  to  Israel  with  placa- 
tory offerings,  and  its  deadly  spite  when  some  of 
its  own  devotees  ventured  to  look  into  it.  It  need 
not  be  said  that  such  accounts,  wherever  found, 
are  not  history  but  myth  or  perverted  legend,  in- 
tended to  convey  a  lesson.  Doubtless  this  story 
was  introduced  here  by  the  compiler  as  an  expla- 
nation of  the  end  of  the  rule  of  the  priests  of  Shi- 
loh and  an  introduction  to  the  part  taken  by  Sam- 
uel in  setting  up  the  first  king;  and  it  was  to  lead 
up  to  it  that  the  later  matter  was  prefixed,  relating 


84      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

to  the  birth  of  Samuel,  the  sins  of  the  sons  of  Eli 
and  the  doom  of  his  house,  and  the  revealing  of 
"  the  word  of  the  Lord  "  to  Samuel  at  Shiloh, 
after  which  he  was  "  established  to  be  a  prophet 
of  the  Lord." 

It  was  the  theocratic  compiler  of  these  legends 
in  the  latter  days  of  the  kingdom,  probably  the 
same  who  had  put  together  those  of  the  "  Judges," 
who  Introduced  the  warning  of  Samuel  to  the 
people  gathered  at  Mizpah  against  the  entice- 
ments of  alien  gods,  and  made  offerings  to  "  the 
Lord  "  for  them,  which  resulted  in  their  dehver- 
ance  from  the  Philistines.  Though  this  writer 
says  that  the  latter  were  "  subdued  "  and  "  came 
no  more  within  the  border  of  Israel,"  and  that 
Samuel  judged  Israel  all  the  days  of  his  life, 
this  Interlude  is  followed  by  a  series  of  narratives 
drawn  from  different  sources  and  Inconsistent  with 
each  other,  which  represent  Samuel's  function  as 
quite  other  than  that  of  a  "  Judge  of  Israel  "  all 
his  life,  and  the  Philistines  as  persistent  and  trou- 
blesome enemies  of  Israel  all  through  the  reign 
of  Saul  and  Into  that  of  David. 

The  main  purpose  of  the  first  Book  of  Samuel 
was  to  give  an  account  of  the  setting  up  of  the 
kingdom  under  Saul  of  Benjamin  and  Its  "  estab- 
lishment "  under  David  of  Judah.  In  Its  com- 
pilation three  main  sources  were  used  and  Imper- 
fectly blended,  with  fragments  here  and  there 
from  others  and  Interjections  by  the  compilers  and 


HEROIC  AND  HISTORIC  LEGENDS     85 

later  editors  in  the  effort  to  harmonise  the  Incon- 
gruous material  and  to  Impress  the  lesson  of  Yah- 
weh's  supremacy  In  the  rule  of  Israel.  Two  of 
these  sources  were  relatively  ancient,  probably 
originating  soon  after  the  time  of  Solomon  and 
less  than  a  century  after  the  time  when  Saul  was 
made  king,  one  of  them  devoted  to  an  account  of 
Saul  and  his  exploits  and  the  other  to  David  and 
his  relation  to  Saul  while  the  latter  was;  king. 
Some  learned  authorities  regard  these  as  one,  but 
they  have  diversities  that  distinguish  them,  as  re- 
garding character  and  events  from  different  points 
of  view.  The  other  main  source  Is  much  later, 
originating  In  the  troublous  times  of  Jeroboam  II 
of  Israel  and  Azarlah,  or  Uzzlah,  of  Judah,  and 
being  devoted  chiefly  to  the  relations  of  Samuel 
and  Saul.  After  such  an  Interval  of  time  this  was 
almost  of  necessity  a  work  of  the  Imagination  mak- 
ing free  use  of  older  material  and  adapting  it  to 
the  writer's  pragmatic  purpose.  Imagination,  or 
the  mythical  element,  must  necessarily  enter  into 
such  narratives,  treating  of  events  long  past  which 
survive  only  in  the  memory  of  successive  genera- 
tions. Sufficient  evidence  of  this  is  to  be  found  in 
the  detailed  reports  of  familiar  talk,  not  only  be- 
tween men,  but  between  men  and  the  deity,  which 
could  not  have  been  literally  transmitted  even  If 
they  had  been  real. 

There  are  three  diverse  accounts  of  how  Saul 
came  to  be  made  king.     According  to  the  oldest 


86      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

of  these  this  goodly  young  man,  the  son  of  a 
mighty  man  of  valour,  KIsh  of  Gibeah  In  Benjamin, 
was  searching  for  stray  asses  what  time  "  the 
Lord  "  had  confided  to  Samuel, — "  told  Samuel  in 
his  ear  "  Is  the  homely  phrase  of  the  "  authorised 
version  " —  that  he  was  sending  this  young  man 
to  him  to  be  anointed  as  captain  over  his  people 
to  save  them  "  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Philistines," 
for  he  had  "  looked  upon  '*  them  because  their 
cry  was  come  unto  him.  It  was  the  Lord  who 
determined  to  set  up  a  king  for  Israel  out  of  the 
goodness  of  his  heart  and  who  picked  out  Saul 
for  the  place.  Samuel  anointed  him  and  gave  him 
benign  Instructions  which  caused  the  spirit  of  the 
Lord  to  come  upon  him  and  led  to  an  episode 
which  gave  rise  to  the  proverbial  query  "  Is  Saul 
also  among  the  prophets?  "  Meantime  the  stray 
asses  were  miraculously  brought  home.  This  ac- 
count Is  In  the  simple  manner  of  primitive  story. 
There  Is  another  of  doubtful  origin  and  uncer- 
tain date  which  represents  Saul  as  having  been 
"  raised  up  "  after  the  manner  of  the  "  judges  " 
when  King  Nahash  of  the  Ammonites  made  an  at- 
tack upon  Jabesh-GIlead  where  Jephthah  had  be- 
fore been  the  champion  against  the  same  enemies. 
When  the  men  of  Jabesh-GIlead  got  a  respite  from 
Nahash  and  sent  word  throughout  Israel  for  help 
and  the  message  reached  Saul  while  he  was  fol- 
lowing the  oxen  In  Gibeah,  the  spirit  of  the  Lord 
came  mightily  upon  him  as  It  had  come  upon  Jeph- 


HEROIC  AND  HISTORIC  LEGENDS     87 

thah  and  Gideon  and  Samson,  and  he  became  the 
rescuer  of  the  people.  In  gratitude  they  insisted 
upon  making  him  king  at  the  ancient  sanctuary 
of  Gllgal. 

The  beginning  of  the  third  account  of  making 
Saul  ruler  over  Israel,  drawn  from  the  latest  of 
the  sources.  Is  placed  before  that  In  which  the  Lord 
had  singled  him  out  and  sent  him  to  Samuel  to 
be  anointed.  It  represents  the  Elders  of  Israel 
as  going  to  Samuel  at  Ramah,  when  he  was  old 
and  had  made  his  sons  "  judges  over  Israel  "  and 
they  had  turned  from  his  ways  and  perverted 
judgment,  and  demanded  that  he  set  a  king  over 
them  that  they  might  be  ruled  like  other  nations. 
This  not  only  displeased  Samuel  but  displeased 
the  Lord;  and,  although  he  yielded  to  the  im- 
portunity, he  Instructed  the  prophet  to  warn  the 
people  of  the  consequences.  This  account  Is  con- 
tinued after  that  which  represents  Samuel  as 
anointing  Saul  at  Ramah  and  sending  him  to  join 
a  band  of  prophets  going  up  to  Bethel.  It  says 
that  Samuel  called  the  people  together  at  MIzpah 
and  after  rebuking  them  for  rejecting  their  God, 
selected  a  king  for  them  by  a  process  of  elimina- 
tion in  the  old  manner  of  consulting  the  Lord. 
Saul  was  expecting  no  such  honor  and  when  it 
came  upon  him  "  hid  himself  among  the  stuff.'* 
Then  follows  the  account  of  the  war  against  Na- 
hash  and  Saul's  appearance  as  a  hero  acclaimed  by 
the  people. 


88      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

The  later  writers  who  had  a  hand  in  this  com- 
posite narrative  were  intent  upon  explaining  how 
it  happened  that  Saul's  reign  was  a  failure  and  he 
had  to  be  set  aside  in  favour  of  David.  This 
had  necessarily  to  be  attributed  to  the  displeasure 
of  the  deity,  and  the  latest  of  the  accounts  in  the 
hands  of  the  compiler  and  subsequent  revisers  of 
his  work  began  by  making  the  demand  for  a  King 
an  offence  to  the  Lord.  Further  on  it  imputes  to 
Saul  a  serious  fault  in  failing  to  obey  literally  a 
command  of  "  the  Lord  of  hosts  "  utterly  to  ex- 
terminate the  Amalekites  and  destroy  all  they  had. 
Although  there  appears  to  have  been  plenty  of 
Amalekites  in  the  time  of  David,  Saul  is  said  to 
have  utterly  destroyed  them  with  the  edge  of  the 
sword,  except  their  King  Agag,  whom  he  brought 
away  as  a  captive.  He  also  saved  some  of  the 
best  of  the  cattle  as  spoils  of  war.  For  his  of- 
fence Samuel  fiercely  condemned  him  as  rejecting 
the  Lord,  and  declared  that  the  Lord  rejected  him 
and  would  rend  the  kingdom  away  from  him  and 
give  it  to  a  better  man.  Thereupon  the  aged 
prophet  in  his  wrath  slew  Agag,  the  last  surviving 
Amalekite,  with  his  own  hand  and  went  home  to 
Ramah,  while  Saul  "  went  up  to  his  house  to  Gib- 
eah  of  Saul.*' 

The  final  editor  in  his  effort  to  reconcile  these 
accounts  interpolated  in  the  oldest  a  direction  by 
Samuel  to  Saul  to  go  down  to  Gilgal  and  wait 
seven  days  for  him  to  come  and  offer  sacrifices. 


HEROIC  AND  HISTORIC  LEGENDS     89 

Then  at  the  end  of  the  Nahash  episode  he  made 
Samuel  lead  the  people  down  to  Gilgal  to  "  renew 
the  Kingdom  "  and  there  they  "  made  Saul  King 
before  the  Lord,"  offered  sacrifices  and  ''  rejoiced 
greatly."  By  still  another  interpolation  further  on 
he  represents  Saul  as  still  waiting  the  seven  days 
for  Samuel  at  Gilgal  and,  when  the  time  was  up, 
making  the  sacrifices  himself,  thereby  incurring  the 
anger  of  the  prophet  and  forfeiting  the  favour  of 
"  the  Lord."  This  is  made  the  cause  of  the 
breach  between  the  prophet  and  the  king  and  the 
occasion  for  declaring  that  the  Lord  had  "  sought 
him  a  man  after  his  own  heart  "  and  "  appointed 
him  to  be  prince  over  his  people  "  because,  In  the 
language  of  Samuel,  "  thou  hast  not  kept  that 
which  the  Lord  commanded  thee,"  and  thereupon 
"  Samuel  arose  and  gat  him  up  from  Gilgal  to 
GIbeah  of  Benjamin." 

It  is  evident  that  the  effort  to  reconcile  these 
accounts  was  not  successful,  and  that  the  explana- 
tion of  the  loss  of  the  kingdom  by  the  Benjamite 
hero  was  duplicated  In  an  Inconsistent  manner. 
But  there  is  much  disorder  in  the  use  of  the  ma- 
terial in  the  whole  narrative.  Immediately  after 
the  account  of  the  defeat  of  the  Ammonites  there 
Is  a  passage  which  begins  with  a  plea  of  Samuel 
to  the  people  that  he  has  grown  old  and  has  given 
them  a  king,  and  that  he  has  never  oppressed 
or  defrauded  them.  This  agrees  with  the  idea 
that  appears  once  or  twice  elsewhere  that  Samuel 


go      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

after  the  death  of  Eli  had  acted  as  a  "  judge  "  In 
the  old  manner.  He  recalls  to  them  the  past  deal- 
ings of  the  Lord  with  his  people  and  warns  them 
and  their  king  not  to  rebel  against  him.  Finally 
he  calls  upon  the  Lord  to  make  a  demonstration 
of  his  power  In  thunder  and  rain,  which  immedi- 
ately follows.  The  prophet  takes  leave  with  a 
promise  to  pray  for  them  and  instruct  them  in  the 
right  way,  and  a  warning  that  if  they  did  wickedly 
both  they  and  their  king  would  be  consumed. 
Parts  of  this  passage  savour  of  that  theocratic  com- 
piler who  put  together  the  stories  of  the  judges 
In  a  manner  to  Illustrate  the  ways  of  Israel's  God. 
While  the  language  Is  all  put  In  the  mouth  of 
Samuel  It  refers  to  him  In  one  place  In  the  third 
person  as  among  those  whom  the  Lord  In  the  past 
had  sent  to  deliver  them  from  their  enemies  "  on 
every  hand." 

Following  this  is  an  account.  In  the  manner  of 
the  oldest  source  of  the  material,  broken  by  one 
of  the  redactor's  interpolations,  of  a  contest  of  Saul 
and  his  son  Jonathan,  who  appears  suddenly  as  a 
full  grown  warrior,  against  the  Philistines.  It  is 
followed  by  a  summary  statement  of  his  victories 
over  these  and  other  enemies,  In  which  he  *'  did 
valiantly."  Among  other  he  "  smote  the  Amale- 
kites  and  delivered  Israel  out  of  the  hands  of  them 
that  spoiled  them."  After  a  slight  genealogical 
statement  It  Is  said  that  there  was  sore  war  against 
the  Philistines  all  the  days  of  Saul,  and  when  he 


HEROIC  AND  HISTORIC  LEGENDS     91 

saw  any  mighty  man  he  took  him.  This  would 
seem  like  a  winding  up  of  his  career,  but  It  Is 
immediately  after  that  the  late  story  of  the  loss 
of  the  kingdom  by  failing  to  destroy  the  last  of 
the  Amalekites  and  all  they  had  is  interposed. 
After  that  David  makes  his  first  appearance  on 
the  scene,  but  Saul  does  not  leave  the  stage.  A 
new  source  of  the  original  material  appears  here, 
that  which  Is  mainly  devoted  to  David's  relation 
to  Saul  and  Jonathan,  but  the  other  continues  to 
mingle  with  it. 

By  way  of  introducing  the  series  of  events  in 
which  Saul  and  David  both  appear,  the  later  writer 
who  strove  to  get  the  narratives  Into  a  continuous 
and  consistent  form,  gives  his  own  account  of  the 
first  anointing  of  David  at  his  father's  home  In 
Bethlehem  by  Samuel,  who  has  two  or  three  times 
already  appeared  to  be  vanishing.  It  was  then 
considered  necessary  to  have  the  prophet  anoint 
the  future  king  and  founder  of  a  great  dynasty, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Lord.  With  the  new 
material  we  are  told  of  the  evil  spirit  that  came 
upon  Saul  when  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  had  departed 
from  him,  and  of  the  coming  of  David  to  soothe 
him  by  playing  upon  the  harp.  The  shepherd  lad 
IS  here  spoken  of  as  already  a  mighty  man  of  valour 
and  a  man  of  war,  as  well  as  cunning  In  playing 
the  harp,  prudent  In  speech  and  comely  in  person. 

But  the  account  of  the  war  with  the  Philistines 
in  which  Goliath  of  Gath  appears  as  a  champion 


92      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

and  is  slain  by  David  with  a  sling  is  mostly  from 
the  later  source.  It  is  marred  and  confused  in  the 
editing  and  a  number  of  verses,  as  it  is  divided 
in  English  versions,  are  not  in  the  Greek  text. 
It  is  purely  legendary  matter.  It  may  be  noted 
that,  notwithstanding  the  previous  statement  that 
David  was  brought  to  Saul  as  a  skilful  player  of 
the  harp  and  was  made  his  armour-bearer,  this 
Goliath  story  is  made  the  occasion  of  his  first 
meeting  with  the  king.  Even  In  that  an  incon- 
sistency appears,  for  he  Is  called  to  Saul  and  has 
a  colloquy  with  him  before  entering  upon  his  ex- 
ploit with  the  sling,  and  yet  after  It  Is  over  the 
king  inquires  who  he  Is  and  has  him  brought  to 
him  as  a  stranger.  In  spite  of  Its  defects  of  com- 
position the  story  Is  one  of  the  classic  episodes  of 
the  great  epic. 

In  the  account  of  Saul's  growing  jealousy  of 
David,  the  affectionate  relation  of  the  latter  with 
the  king's  son,  the  peril  of  the  youth  of  Bethle- 
hem, his  fleeing  to  Samuel  at  Ramah  and  being  har- 
boured by  the  priests  of  Nob,  there  Is  a  perplex- 
ing mixture  of  material  and  occasional  Inconsist- 
encies of  detail,  but  this  does  not  prevent  Its  hav- 
ing a  sustained  Interest,  while  the  stories  of  David's 
adventures  as  an  outlaw  In  the  mountains  of  Judah 
are  vivid  and  picturesque.  These  are  partly  from 
that  older  source  which  deals  chiefly  with  the  rela- 
tion of  David  and  Saul  and  partly  from  the  later 
one  that  treats  of  the  relation  of  Saul  and  Samuel. 


HEROIC  AND  HISTORIC  LEGENDS     93 

There  Is  an  instructive  duplication  which  well  Il- 
lustrates the  form  In  which  different  versions  of  the 
same  Incident  appear  and  are  treated  as  If  relating 
to  separate  events.  It  was  the  later  source  that 
told  of  David's  taking  refuge  In  the  cave  of  Adul- 
1am  and  drawing  lawless  men  to  him.  It  was  the 
older  that  told  of  his  going  with  his  men  to  the 
rescue  of  Kellah  from  the  Philistines  and  of  the 
betrayal  to  Saul  of  his  subsequent  whereabouts  by 
the  ZIphltes.  According  to  this  latter,  while  Saul 
Is  hunting  him  In  the  mountains  he  has  the  king's 
life  In  his  hands  but  spares  It  out  of  magnanimity 
or  regard  for  "  the  Lord's  Anointed."  He  lets 
the  king  know  of  this,  remonstrates  with  him  and 
gets  his  avowal  of  repentance  and  promise  of  im- 
munity In  return  for  assurance  that  when  David 
becomes  king  he  will  spare  the  house  of  Saul 
from  destruction.  From  the  same  source  Is  the 
picturesque  and  diverting  account  of  marauding 
In  the  South,  with  the  death  of  the  foolish  Nabal 
and  the  captivating  of  his  wife,  and  then  from 
the  later  source  is  the  duplicate  version  of  the 
incident  of  sparing  the  king's  life  in  the  wilder- 
ness of  ZIph.  The  details  as  related  are  quite 
different  but  the  event  is  the  same. 

Finally  David,  still  distrusting  the  purpose  of 
Saul  toward  him,  boldly  takes  refuge  with  the 
chief  enemies  of  his  country,  the  Philistines,  and 
makes  friends  with  one  of  their  five  princes, 
Achlsh   of  Gath,   who  allowed  him   the   city   of 


94      THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

Ziklag  for  his  own.  This,  which  was  no  doubt 
a  historic  fact,  led  to  a  previous  reference  to  his 
having  fled  alone  to  the  same  potentate  and,  not  be- 
ing kindly  received,  playing  the  madman  to  escape 
harm.  There  is  no  reason  for  accepting  that  as 
authentic.  From  here  on  to  the  death  of  Saul 
and  Jonathan  the  material  is  practically  all  from 
the  earlier  source  and  may  be  taken  as  substantially 
historical,  at  least  so  far  as  concerns  the  battle 
with  the  Philistines  and  Its  result.  It  is  not  un- 
likely that  David  set  out,  with  the  favour  of  Ach- 
ish,  to  accompany  the  Philistine  prince  to  the  bat- 
tle and  was  turned  back  by  the  objection  of  the 
others,  taking  the  opportunity  for  freebooting 
raids  In  the  opposite  direction.  But  the  details  of 
what  passed,  including  the  visit  of  the  king  to  the 
woman  of  Endor  who  had  a  familiar  spirit,  are 
necessarily  of  a  legendary  character  as  there  could 
have  been  no  record  or  exact  memory  of  them. 

The  woman  of  Endor  story  is  out  of  its  proper 
place  and  should  come  after  the  account  of  the 
gathering  of  the  Philistines  at  Aphek  and  David's 
revenge  upon  the  Amalekites  for  burning  his  town 
of  Ziklag  In  his  absence,  and  just  before  that  of 
the  disastrous  battle  on  Mount  Gllboa.  It  Is  in- 
teresting as  a  picture  of  the  superstition  of  the 
time  when  "  the  Lord ''  was  supposed  to  reveal 
his  win  by  dreams  or  by  Urim  or  by  Inspiration  of 
prophets,  and  wizards  and  "  familiar  spirits " 
were  believed  In.     It  also  gives  a  glimpse  of  the 


HEROIC  AND  HISTORIC  LEGENDS     95 

notion  that  the  dead  dwelt  in  a  state  of  Inanition 
in  the  underworld,  from  which  they  might  be 
aroused  by  the  summons  of  wandering  spirits. 

The  last  intrusion  of  the  late  writer  of  what 
Is  sometimes  called  the  "  Saul  and  Samuel  source  " 
appears  In  connection  with  David's  receiving  the 
news  of  the  death  of  Saul  and  Jonathan  in  the 
battle  with  the  Philistines,  when  the  men  of  Jab- 
esh-GIlead  remembered  their  gratitude  for  the  de- 
liverance from  Nahash,  King  of  the  Ammonites. 
The  older  writer  had  said  that  when  Saul's 
armour-bearer  refused  to  kill  him  to  save  him  from 
the  dishonour  of  death  by  the  unclrcumcised,  he 
had  fallen  upon  his  own  sword.  The  later  writer 
makes  an  Amaleklte  fleeing  from  the  field  of  battle 
report  to  David  that  he  had  slain  the  king  and 
brought  his  crown  and  bracelet  to  "  my  Lord," 
whereupon  the  Lord's  anointed  caused  one  of  his 
young  men  to  kill  the  messenger  of  evil.  It  may 
be  noted  here  that  at  a  later  time,  after  David 
had  b  en  made  King  of  Judah  at  Hebron  and  two 
officers  of  Ish-bosheth,  the  Son  of  Saul,  thought 
to  win  his  favour  by  bringing  him  the  head  of 
the  heir  of  the  former  King  of  Israel,  he  is  rep- 
resented as  saying,  "  when  one  told  me  saying, 
'  Behold,  Saul  is  dead,'  thinking  to  have  brought 
good  tidings,  I  took  hold  of  him  and  slew  him 
in  Ziklag,  which  was  the  reward  I  gave  him  for 
his  tidings."  Whereupon  he  administered  the 
same  reward  to  them. 


96     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

That  the  lament  of  David  at  the  death  of  Saul 
and  Jonathan,  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  an- 
tique poesy,  is  a  genuine  production,  there  is  no 
sufficient  reason  to  doubt,  though  it  is  doubted  by 
some  critics,  but  when  it  was  written  or  where  it  was 
written  we  have  no  means  of  knowing.  We  are 
told  that ''  he  bade  them  "  to  teach  it  to  the  children 
of  Judah,  but  that  it  was  written  in  the  Book 
of  Jasher,  which  was  probably  compiled  late  in 
the  reign  of  Solomon. 

The  material  of  these  narratives  which  relates 
especially  to  David  and  Saul  often  represents 
David  as  "  inquiring  of  the  Lord  "  in  the  old  man- 
ner of  using  the  ephod  and  urim  and  thummim, 
a  rude  mechanism  for  obtaining  aleatory  answers 
to  direct  questions.  By  this  means  he  is  said  now 
to  have  obtained  sanction  for  his  purpose  of  going 
up  to  Hebron,  where  the  "  men  of  Judah  "  came 
and  "  anointed  him  King  over  the  house  of  Judah." 
The  narrator  knew  nothing  of  the  mythical  anoint- 
ing by  Samuel  at  Bethlehem  long  before.  His 
account  is  older  than  that  story  and  nearer  to 
historical  truth. 

One  needs  only  to  read  the  accounts  of  the 
reign  of  Saul  and  the  adventures  of  David  be- 
fore he  becomes  king,  with  care  and  with  freedom 
from  prepossessions,  to  see  that  they  are  largely 
legendary  and  partly  mythical,  which  thorough 
investigation  proves  them  to  be,  but  they  may 
nevertheless  represent  with  substantial  truth  the 


HEROIC  AND  HISTORIC  LEGENDS     97 

main  historical  facts.  In  days  of  little  writing 
and  of  reading  confined  to  those  who  possessed 
the  sparse  copies  of  manuscript  scrolls,  oral  tradi- 
tion was  carried  through  successive  generations 
and  words  were  remembered  and  repeated  In  a 
way  which  would  seem  marvellous  In  modern  times. 
Yet  It  was  even  then  far  easier  to  Imagine  details 
than  to  remember  them,  and  there  was  no  scruple 
in  setting  down  as  fact  what  was  assumed  but  not 
known  to  be  so.  In  legendary  and  mythical  his- 
tory the  incredible  is  no  more  to  be  accepted  as 
fact  in  the  language  of  the  Hebrews  and  the  lit- 
erature that  they  deemed  sacred  than  In  that  of 
other  ancient  peoples.  Still,  the  mythical  and  the 
legendary  in  their  great  epic  picture  their  life  and 
character  in  the  early  days  in  vivid  colours  more 
truthful  perhaps  than  colourless  history. 


VI 

DAVID   AND   SOLOMON 

While  Saul  was  nominally  the  first  king  of  all 
Israel,  it  is  evident  from  the  disordered  and  un- 
systematic, but  picturesque,  accounts  of  his  reign 
that  he  had  no  organised  government,  and  his  rule 
differed  little  from  that  of  the  old  sofetim,  or 
"  judges,"  except  in  its  continuity,  which  may  have 
been  due  to  an  almost  continuous  conflict  with  sur- 
rounding enemies.  He  had  no  palace  or  capital, 
but  seems  to  have  dwelt  at  his  old  home  in  Gibeah 
when  not  engaged  in  the  field  of  war.  He  is  rep- 
resented In  one  of  the  later  accounts, —  when  he 
charged  his  son  with  being  In  league  with  the 
Son  of  Jesse  to  depose  him,  and  accused  his  fol- 
lowers of  conspiring  against  him,  and  when  he 
passed  sentence  of  death  upon  the  priests  of  Nob 
for  harbouring  David, —  as  *'  sitting  in  Gibeah 
under  a  tamarisk  tree  In  Ramah  with  his  spear 
in  his  hand,"  while  all  his  servants  were  standing 
about  him.  This  appears  to  have  been  his  royal 
state  when  he  had  occasion  to  hold  council  or  pass 
judgment.  Heroic  as  he  may  have  been,  his  rule 
came  in  a  time  of  great  difficulty,  when  it  Is  doubt- 
ful if  any  man  could  have  succeeded  in  establishing 

98 


DAVID  AND  SOLOMON  99 

the  kingdom  on  a  firm  basis.  He  was  beset  with 
enemies,  suspicious  of  his  surroundings,  "  per- 
plexed In  the  extreme,"  and  he  proved  unequal  to 
the  task  set  for  him.  Writers  of  a  later  time 
were  bound  to  explain  his  failure  on  the  ground 
that  he  had  offended  the  God  of  Israel  and  dis- 
obeyed his  commands.  Otherwise,  in  their  view, 
he  could  not  have  failed. 

Saul  established  no  dynasty,  and  dying  on  the 
battle  field  with  his  heroic  son,  the  beloved  friend 
of  David,  left  but  a  feeble  heir  In  Ish-bosheth,  or 
Is-baal,  who  had  little  loyal  support.  The  way 
was  prepared  for  David,  and  he  had  the  qualities 
necessary  to  take  full  advantage  of  the  situation 
and  make  his  way  to  triumph.  The  writers  who 
could  see  nothing  but  divine  disappointment  and 
anger  In  the  failure  of  Saul  attributed  the  success 
of  David  to  divine  favour.  He  had  been  taken 
from  the  sheepcote  by  Yahweh  himself  to  be  a 
prince  over  his  people  Israel,  and  a  prophet  had 
been  specially  sent  to  anoint  him  at  the  home  of 
his  father,  the  shepherd  of  Bethlehem,  before  he 
was  known  as  a  warrior  and  a  mighty  man  of 
valour,  which  he  afterwards  became.  The  passage 
in  the  seventh  chapter  of  Second  Samuel,  which 
contains  the  promise  by  the  mouth  of  Nathan, 
the  prophet,  that  the  throne  of  his  kingdom  should 
be  established  forever,  was  from  the  pen  of  that 
compiler  of  the  ancient  material  who  was  Imbued 
with  the  theocratic  doctrine  of  the  prophets,  and 


loo    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

of  the  law  as  promulgated  In  the  days  of  Joslah, 
when  the  perpetuity  of  the  house  of  David  was 
an  article  of  faith  in  the  divine  rule  at  Jerusalem. 
The  Invocation  to  the  "  Lord  God  "  when  David 
**  went  in  and  sat  before  him  "  Is  from  the  same 
source. 

David,  like  many  another  in  human  history, 
was  the  man  for  the  time,  fitted  by  natural  en- 
dowment and  training  for  his  task,  and  he  estab- 
lished a  nation,  and  with  his  son  and  successor 
organised  a  government  that  endured  for  several 
centuries,  until  overwhelmed  by  the  Irresistible 
empire  of  the  East.  His  dynasty  continued  un- 
broken throughout  the  history  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Judah,  and  was  regarded  as  so  divine  that  It 
must  surely  be  revived  and  restored,  bring  all  the 
scattered  tribes  of  Israel  together  again,  destroy 
their  enemies  and  establish  an  everlasting  reign 
of  righteousness  and  peace  on  Mount  ZIon.  This 
belief  was  the  root  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Messiah, 
or  anointed  one  of  the  house  of  David,  which 
played  such  a  part  in  human  history  at  a  later  day. 

But  what  we  have  to  do  with  now  Is  not  the 
actual  history  of  David  or  his  dynasty,  but  the 
story  of  his  reign  as  It  appears  In  the  great  epic 
of  his  people.  Largely  legendary  as  the  accounts 
of  his  previous  life  may  be,  It  is  plain  that  he 
had  gone  through  a  training  that  was  essential  to 
his  task.  He  had  experience  as  a  warrior  In 
Saul's  battles  with  the  Philistines  more  disciplinary 


DAVID  AND  SOLOMON  loi 

than  killing  giants  with  pebble  stones  and  with 
divine  aid.  The  jealousy  of  the  king,  which  his 
success  and  popularity  Inflamed  Into  wrath  and 
a  determination  to  compass  his  death,  the  shifts 
to  which  he  was  put  to  save  himself  and  win  sup- 
port from  his  tribe,  his  adventures  as  an  outlaw 
In  the  fastnesses  of  the  mountains  of  Judah,  his 
winning  the  favour  and  protection  of  a  Philistine 
prince,  even  his  ruthless  exploits  In  raiding  the 
traditional  enemies  of  Israel  In  the  South  while 
pretending  to  prey  upon  his  own  people,  were 
part  of  his  preparation  for  the  kingdom.  When 
he  distributed  the  spoils  of  his  brigandage  among 
the  elders  of  Judah  from  Bethel  to  Ramoth  of 
the  South,  he  was  paving  the  way  to  the  throne 
at  Hebron,  which  was  the  stepping  stone  to  the 
stronghold  of  the  Jebusltes  on  Mount  ZIon, 
where  the  monarchy  of  all  Israel  was  established 
seven  years  later. 

That  David  had  the  qualities  of  a  great  leader 
his  success  sufficiently  demonstrates,  and  the  qual- 
ities were  those  necessary  for  the  leadership  of  his 
people  In  that  day  and  generation.  He  was 
clearly  a  man  of  unusual  personal  attraction,  that 
subtle  Influence  known  as  magnetism  In  men,  of 
craft  and  duplicity,  even  ruthless  cruelty  when  oc- 
casion required,  and  yet  capable  of  lofty  sentiment 
and  deep  emotion.  Religious  after  the  manner  of 
his  time,  devout  In  his  belief  In  Israel's  God,  he 
was  subject  to  the  moral  weakness  of  an  ardent 


102    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

nature  and  capable  of  meanness  in  the  satisfaction 
of  his  desires,  as  exemplified  in  the  dastardly 
treatment  of  his  heroic  and  faithful  Hittite  of- 
ficer, Uriah,  and  ready  to  sacrifice  the  interests 
of  his  kingdom  to  his  yearning  love  for  his  repro- 
bate son  Absalom,  from  which  he  was  saved  only 
by  the  brutal  fidelity  of  that  harsh  and  cruel  but 
shrewd  and  far-seeing  soldier,  Joab,  who,  accord- 
ing to  the  genealogies  of  the  Book  of  Chronicles, 
was  the  son  of  his  father's  sister  Zeruiah. 

The  account  of  David's  reign,  like  those  which 
precede  It,  is  of  a  composite  character,  but  a  long 
section  of  It  Is  from  a  source  nearer  to  the  time 
and  more  harmonious  and  truly  historical  than 
those  relating  to  his  earlier  exploits.  The  narra- 
tive of  the  conflict  with  the  house  of  Saul  and 
the  winning  of  the  other  tribes  to  the  throne  of 
Judah,  of  which  the  craft  and  valour  of  Joab 
were  the  chief  instrument,  is  derived,  with  some 
late  Interpolations  and  amendments,  from  the  same 
source  that  dealt  mainly  with  David's  previous 
adventures  in  his  relations  with  Saul.  This  is  In- 
terrupted where  it  is  said  that  all  the  tribes  of 
Israel  came  to  David  at  Hebron  and  reminded 
him  that  the  Lord  had  said  In  the  time  of  Saul 
that  he  was  to  be  "  prince  over  Israel."  The 
earlier  and  more  historical  source  first  appears  In 
the  statement,  Immediately  following,  that  '^  all 
the  elders  of  Israel  came  to  the  king  to  Hebron 
and  King  David  made  a  covenant  with  them  in 


DAVID  AND  SOLOMON  103 

Hebron  before  the  Lord,  and  they  anointed  David 
King  over  Israel."  The  late  reviser  and  editor 
of  the  narratives  interposed  here  the  statement 
that  David  was  thirty  years  old  when  he  began 
to  reign  and  that  he  reigned  seven  years  and  six 
months  over  Judah  at  Hebron  and  thirty  years 
over  all  Israel  and  Judah  at  Jerusalem;  but  the 
other  continues  with  the  capture  of  Jerusalem 
from  the  Jebusites  and  the  building  of  David's 
stronghold  there  with  the  aid  of  Hiram  of  Tyre. 

For  several  chapters'  of  the  second  book  of 
Samuel,  from  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  to  the 
twenty-second  verse  of  the  twentieth,  omitting  the 
seventh  and  eighth,  the  story  of  the  reign  is  con- 
tinuous and  little  marred  by  subsequent  revision 
or  editing.  The  seventh  chapter  is  that  which 
contains  the  promise  of  the  perpetuity  of  the  King- 
dom of  David,  by  the  word  of  the  Lord  that  came 
to  Nathan  in  the  night,  and  the  King's  invocation 
of  gratitude,  as  conceived  by  the  theocratic  writer 
more  than  three  centuries  after  the  time.  The 
eighth  is  an  interpolated  recapitulation  of  vic- 
tories over  hostile  nations  on  all  sides,  when  the 
Lord  gave  victory  to  David  wherever  he  went, 
and  a  summary  statement  of  his  government  and 
his  chief  officers. 

Leaving  out  these,  we  have  first  in  chapter  vi 
the  account  of  the  transporting  of  the  "  ark  of 
God  "  from  the  house  of  Aminadab  in  the  hill 
to  a  tabernacle,  or  tent,  at  Jerusalem,  which  is  much 


104    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

In  the  same  spirit  as  that  of  its  capture  and  re- 
turn by  the  Philistines  in  the  days  of  Eli  the 
priest  of  Shiloh.  This  depository  of  divinity  ex- 
hibits the  same  malignant  spite  as  before  In  slay- 
ing the  well-meaning  Uzziah  for  presuming  to 
touch  it  when  It  appeared  to  be  In  danger  of  fall- 
ing from  the  cart  as  the  oxen  stumbled.  This  so 
frightened  David  that  he  left  It  to  bless  the  house 
of  Obed-Edom,  a  Philistine,  for  three  months  be- 
fore completing  the  journey  with  a  form  of  re- 
joicing that  disgusted  that  wife  of  his  who  was  a 
daughter  of  Saul.  For  her  derision  she  was  made 
childless  the  rest  of  her  days.  There  was  doubt- 
less a  historical  Incident  behind  this  strange  tale, 
but  In  form  and  substance  It  must  be  regarded  as 
mythical. 

The  passage  that  begins  with  chapter  Ix  has 
every  appearance  of  historical  truth,  at  least  in 
substance,  and  is  marvellous  In  Its  graphic  simplicity 
and  absolute  candour  of  portrayal.  It  reveals  a 
barbaric  time  and  In  many  ways  a  barbarous  spirit, 
and  shows  David  to  be  a  rare  embodiment  of  the 
spirit  of  his  time.  There  Is  no  concealment  or 
glossing  over  or  extenuation  of  his  faults,  but  in 
spite  of  them  he  was  beloved  of  God  and  man 
and  was  the  glory  of  his  time  and  race,  so  potent  is 
success  due  to  personal  qualities  and  favouring  cir- 
cumstances to  exalt  a  human  being  in  the  esteem 
of  his  fellow  men.  He  showed  his  magnanimity 
in  care  for  the  crippled  son  of  Jonathan.     He 


DAVID  AND  SOLOMON  105 

sought  to  show  kindness  to  the  young  King  of 
Ammon  and  when  his  overtures  were  rebuffed  with 
Insult  he  waged  relentless  war  upon  the  Ammonites 
and  upon  the  Syrians  allied  with  them.  The 
doughty  Joab  was  the  real  commander  in  these 
wars  of  David,  though  ever  ready  to  yield  the 
glory  of  victory  to  his  King. 

It  was  during  this  conflict  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Jordan  that  the  outrage  upon  the  faithful 
Hittlte  officer  Uriah  was  perpetrated,  and  the 
prophet  Nathan  with  his  parable  of  the  little  ewe 
Iamb  brought  the  King  to  a  "  realising  sense  '*  of 
his  sin,  the  fruit  of  which  was  a  child  doomed  to 
death.  This  gave  occasion  for  one  of  those 
graphic  touches  for  which  the  Hebrew  genius  was 
so  remarkable.  The  peril  of  the  sick  child  was 
made  a  bitter  punishment  for  the  offending  mon- 
arch, but,  when  it  was  dead,  he  comforted  him- 
self: "While  the  child  was  yet  alive,  I  fasted 
and  wept,  for  I  said,  who  knoweth  whether  the 
Lord  will  not  be  gracious  to  me,  that  the  child 
may  live?  But  now  he  is  dead,  why  should  I 
fast?  Can  I  bring  him  back  again?  I  shall  go 
to  him  but  he  shall  not  return  to  me,"  and  so  he 
proceeded  to  comfort  Bath-Sheba  and  became  the 
father  of  Solomon,  and  "  the  Lord  loved  him." 

This  episode  over,  we  have  the  conclusion  of 
the  war  upon  Ammon  under  David's  own  com- 
mand, but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  statement 
that  he  put  the  people  of  its  cities  "  under  saws 


io6     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

and  under  harrows  of  Iron,  and  under  axes  of  Iron 
and  made  them  pass  through  the  brick  kiln  '*  is 
not  to  be  taken  literally.  The  more  pleasing  in- 
terpretation is  that  he  put  them  to  labour  and  serv- 
ice with  these  instruments. 

There  Is  a  series  of  vivid  pictures  of  the  royal 
life  and  the  manners  of  the  time  In  David's 
promiscuous  family.  He  Is  said  to  have  had  six 
sons  by  as  many  wives  at  Hebron  when  he  was 
King  of  Judah  only.  When  he  made  his  compact 
with  Abner  for  bringing  under  his  sway  the  other 
tribes  which  had  made  the  son  of  Saul  their  King, 
he  made  It  a  prime  condition  that  his  first  wife, 
MIchal,  the  daughter  of  Saul,  should  be  torn  from 
her  weeping  husband  and  children  and  restored 
to  him.  When  he  became  king  of  all  Israel  at 
Jerusalem  he  Is  said  to  have  taken  more  concubines 
and  wives  there,  and  *'  there  were  yet  sons  and 
daughters  born  to  David."  It  was  not  a  harmon- 
ious royal  family.  The  evil  passion  of  the  son 
Amnon  for  Tamar,  a  sister  of  Absalom,  brought 
as  many  woes  as  the  fated  iniquities  of  a  Greek 
tragedy.  Though  David  was  very  **  wroth,"  he 
left  the  penalty  to  the  blood-avenging  Absalom, 
who  was  thus  estranged,  and  who  afterwards  led 
a  revolt  most  humiliating  to  the  king,  whose  life 
and  throne  were  probably  saved  by  the  stern  and 
ruthless  Joab. 

What  David  and  his  kingdom  owed  to  this  un- 
sparing   warrior,    who    commanded    his    motley 


DAVID  AND  SOLOMON  107, 

army  of  mercenaries,  was  requited  by  his  violent 
death  clinging  to  the  horns  of  the  altar  when  Solo- 
mon became  king.  It  was  he  and  his  two  brothers 
that  led  the  forces  against  the  adherents  of  the 
house  of  Saul  to  win  the  kingdom  of  all  Israel. 
Though  David  lamented  the  death  of  Abner  when 
he  was  killed  by  Joab,  out  of  revenge  for  his  own 
brother's  death,  and  condemned  the  sons  of 
Zeruiah  as  "  too  hard  for  him,"  Joab  distrusted 
Abner  and  probably  saved  the  king  as  well  as 
himself  from  serious  trouble.  It  was  Joab  that 
reconciled  the  king  with  the  son  for  whom  he 
visibly  yearned,  but  when  Absalom  won  the  hearts 
of  the  people  by  his  wiles  and  headed  the  revolt 
of  Israel  at  Hebron,  the  grizzled  warrior  faith- 
fully followed  the  king  in  his  mournful  retreat 
to  the  refuge  across  the  Jordan  Valley  and  was 
chief  of  the  three  who  led  the  forces  that  faced 
the  host  of  rebels  under  Amasa.  He  outraged  the 
heart  of  the  king  by  killing  Absalom,  but  he  re- 
garded It  as  a  stern  necessity,  and  when  the  king 
gave  way  to  grief  and  mourning  he  boldly  rebuked 
his  weakness  and  forced  him  to  a  royal  attitude 
before  the  people.  He  was  chiefly  Instrumental  in 
restoring  the  kingdom  and  quenching  the  new  re- 
volt that  would  again  have  stripped  the  other  tribes 
from  Judah.  The  killing  of  Amasa,  who  had  led 
the  rebellious  host  of  Absalom  and  been  chosen 
by  David  to  take  Joab's  place  In  confronting  the 
new  revolt,  may  have  had  a  motive  of  jealousy  and 


io8     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

selfishness,  but  It  was  a  stroke  of  policy  in  behalf 
of  the  king  as  well.  David  feared  and  hated 
Joab,  but  he  owed  him  much  and  dared  not  dis- 
pense with  him. 

It  was  a  barbarous  time  and  these  pristine  nar- 
ratives show  little  of  the  religious  spirit  which 
the  later  material  sought  to  reflect  back  upon  it. 
Recognition  of  the  mighty  God  of  Israel  is  not 
wholly  lacking,  but  there  Is  not  that  familiarity 
with  him  so  common  In  later  narratives.  After 
the  suppression  of  the  revolts  which  followed  the 
conquest  of  external  enemies  not  much  remains 
to  the  reign  of  David.  We  are  thrown  back  by 
some  disjointed  material  relating  to  different  epi- 
sodes. There  appears  to  have  been  a  drought, 
described  as  a  famine,  during  some  part  of  the 
reign,  and  a  relatively  late  writer  considered  it 
necessary  to  account  for  this.  It  Is  said  to  have 
lasted  *'  three  years,  year  after  year,"  and  David 
asked  the  Lord  about  It  and  was  told  that  It  was 
due  to  Saul  having  "  put  to  death  the  Gibeonites," 
with  whom  Israel  had  a  sworn  covenant  from  the 
time  of  Joshua,  and  atonement  must  be  made  for 
that.  So  the  GIbeonites  were  permitted  to  hang 
in  Gibeah  the  two  sons  of  Rizpah,  Saul's  concu- 
bine, and  five  sons  of  Michal  born  to  her  and 
another  husband  after  David's  flight  from  Saul. 
After  that  the  bones  of  Saul  and  Jonathan  were 
gathered  from  Jabesh-Gilead  and  buried  In  the 
sepulchre  of  Kish  In  Benjamin.     Thus  was  God 


DAVID  AND  SOLOMON  109 

*'  entreated  for  the  land."  This  is  not  In  any 
modern  view  a  satisfactory  way  of  accounting  for 
famine  and  recovery  therefrom. 

Another  fragment  follows  this  relating  to  the 
gigantic  warriors  of  the  Philistines,  which  serves 
to  introduce  what  is  called  David's  song  of  victory 
or  of  thanksgiving,  when  he  was  delivered  out 
of  the  hands  of  all  his  enemies.  This  composi- 
tion is  not  of  his  time  and  is  a  repetition  of  the 
eighteenth  psalm.  The  verses  called  the  "  last 
words  "  of  David  are  certainly  not  authentic  and 
are  framed  in  imitation  of  the  utterances  attributed 
to  Balaam.  Another  disconnected  passage,  giv- 
ing an  account  of  the  "  mighty  men  whom  David 
had,"  is  believed  to  have  been  taken  from  that 
source  of  material  relating  to  David's  exploits 
which,  so  far  as  it  was  preserved,  treated  mainly 
of  his  relation  with  Saul  and  Jonathan  before  he 
came  to  the  throne. 

An  event  which  one  of  the  later  writers  felt 
bound  to  account  for  was  the  choice  of  the  site 
of  the  future  temple.  Perhaps,  also,  there  had 
been  an  epidemic  which  must  be  attributed  to  the 
"  Anger  of  the  Lord."  At  all  events.  It  was  said 
that  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was  kindled  against 
Israel,  and  we  are  not  told  why.  He  moved 
David  to  have  a  census  of  the  people  taken,  against 
the  remonstrance  of  Joab,  and  when  it  was  done 
the  king  suddenly  concluded  that  he  had  committed 
a  great  sin.     It  appears  for  the  first  time  that  he 


no    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

had  a  "  seer  "  named  Gad,  and  through  him  the 
Lord  proposed  as  a  penalty  a  choice  of  three  evils, 
seven  years  of  famine,  discomfiture  by  his  enemies 
for  three  months,  or  a  three  days'  pestilence  in  the 
land.  He  chose  the  last,  and  seventy  thousand 
men  had  to  die  to  appease  the  wrath  of  the  Lord 
because  the  people  were  numbered  at  his  own  in- 
stigation; but  on  David's  plea  the  hand  of  the 
destroying  angel  was  stayed  at  Jerusalem,  and 
where  he  stood  on  the  threshing  floor  of  Araunah 
an  altar  was  built  and  offerings  were  made.  "  So 
the  Lord  was  entreated  for  the  land  and  the 
plague  was  stayed  from  Israel."  This  account  is 
no  doubt  just  as  historical  as  that  of  the  pestilence 
inflicted  upon  the  camp  of  the  Greeks  at  Troy  in 
answer  to  the  prayer  of  the  priest  Chryses,  and 
the  angel  that  "  stretched  out  his  hand  upon  Jeru- 
salem to  destroy  it,"  was  just  as  real  as  the  aveng- 
ing god  to  whom  the  priest  appealed  as  "  Smin- 
theus." 

The  conclusion  of  that  most  authentic  account 
of  David's  reign  which  was  interrupted  with  these 
interpolations  by  the  late  compilers  is  to  be  found 
included  in  the  first  two  chapters  of  the  first  Book 
of  Kings.  The  division  of  what  are  now  four 
books,  effected  in  the  early  versions,  was  quite 
arbitrary.  In  the  first  Greek  version  Samuel  was 
one  and  Kings  was  one  and  later  there  were  four 
books  of  Kings.  The  original  compilation  be- 
iore  the  exile  and  its  recension  afterwards,  though 


DAYID  AND  SOLOMON  iii 

sufficiently  disconnected  at  many  points,  was  con- 
tinuous and  devoid  of  titles.  A  proper  point  of 
division  is  between  the  reign  of  David  and  that 
of  Solomon. 

Probably  it  is  historically  true  that,  when  David 
was  "  old  and  stricken  in  years  "  and  his  blood 
had  to  be  cherished  into  warmth  by  the  fair  damsel 
of  Shunam,  his  son  Adonijah  set  out,  with  the 
concurrence  of  Joab,  Abiathar  the  priest,  and  of 
his  brothers  with  the  exception  of  Solomon,  to 
take  possession  of  the  throne  on  his  father's  death, 
and  that  he  got  up  a  most  unseemly  feast  with 
that  end  in  view.  It  Is  doubtless  equally  true  that 
Bath-Sheba  at  the  instigation,  or  with  the  con- 
nivance, of  Nathan  the  prophet  and  Zadok  the 
priest,  determined  to  thwart  that  scheme  by  plac- 
ing Solomon  on  the  throne,  with  the  old  king's 
sanction,  even  before  he  was  dead.  The  account 
of  this  In  the  first  chapter  of  the  first  Book  of 
Kings  Is  most  dramatic,  but  in  Its  language  it  Is 
necessarily  a  work  of  the  imagination.  It  was 
written  at  least  a  generation  after  the  events  and 
the  words  of  the  actors  In  the  little  drama  could 
hardly  have  been  preserved.  If  they  had  ever  been 
known.  But  In  no  drama  or  epic  passage  are 
the  actual  words  of  the  characters  supposed  to  be 
recorded.  The  Hebrew  writer  had  the  same  lib- 
erty as  the  Greek  writer  to  Imagine  the  language 
of  his  kings  and  priests  and  heroes. 

It  was  the  late  compiler  of  the  theocratic  his- 


112     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

tory  of  Israel  who  conceived  the  dying  charge  of 
David  to  his  royal  son  in  the  spirit  of  the  Deu- 
teronomlc  law,  and  made  him  counsel  the  doom 
of  Joab  and  that  Benjamite  who  railed  at  the  king 
when  he  was  fleeing  from  Absalom;  but  the  orig- 
inal narrative  is  reverted  to  in  the  account  of  the 
execution  of  the  supposed  dying  injunction.  Sol- 
omon had  his  own  motive  and  manner  for  getting 
rid  of  the  brother  who  sought  to  forestall  him 
and  of  the  grim  warrior  who  had  abetted  the  at- 
tempt, though  David  may  indeed  have  enjoined 
upon  him  the  vengeful  duty  of  disposing  of  Joab 
and  Shimei,  the  Benjamite.  It  was  sufficient  to 
seclude  the  offending  priest  Abiathar  at  Anathoth, 
which  at  a  later  day  was  to  furnish  Jerusalem  with 
the  prophet  Jeremiah.  Solomon  evidently  had  no 
compunction  about  clearing  his  court  of  those 
whom  he  feared  or  distrusted,  even  to  violating 
his  word  to  his  mother  and  having  Joab  slain 
as  he  clung  to  the  sacred  altar,  and  he  had  a  ready 
instrument  in  Benaiah,  the  son  of  Jeholada,  whom 
he  placed  in  command  of  the  "  host." 

The  account  of  the  reign  of  Solomon  Is,  like 
the  rest  of  the  Books  of  Kings,  of  composite  ma- 
terial, but  it  was  probably  derived  largely  from  the 
source  referred  to  at  its  close  as  the  "  Book  of 
the  Acts  of  Solomon,"  though  It  is  liberally  Inter- 
larded with  passages  from  the  hand  of  the  com- 
piler who  was  Imbued  with  the  theocratic  doctrine 
and  familiar  with  the  law  that  condemned  all  wor- 


DAVID  AND  SOLOMON  113 

ship  in  the  "  high  places,"  a  law  which  was  not 
promulgated  until  three  centuries  after  the  time  of 
Solomon.  There  are  also  evident  traces  of  the 
hand  of  the  redactor  who  put  the  finishing  touches 
to  these  narratives  after  the  exile.  The  contrast 
between  the  manner  and  style  of  the  account  of 
David's  reign  and  that  of  his  son  is  as  striking  as 
that  between  the  two  characters  and  that  between 
the  events  of  the  two  reigns. 

David  had  extended  widely  the  borders  of  his 
realm,  subdued  Its  external  enemies  and  quelled 
the  tendency  to  internal  revolt,  for  which  the 
proud  tribe  of  Ephralm  and  the  fierce  community 
of  Benjamin  were  always  so  ready.  The  great 
empires  of  the  East  and  South  were  quiescent  and 
there  appears  to  have  been  a  long  period  of  peace 
which  enabled  the  new  king  to  organise  an  ef- 
fective administration  and  enter  upon  great  en- 
terprises for  his  own  glory  and  that  of  the  God 
of  Israel.  He  began  by  making  "  affinity  "  with 
Egypt  and  securing  as  one  of  his  wives  a  daughter 
of  the  reigning  Pharaoh.  He  sought  the  co-op- 
eration of  Hiram  of  Tyre,  who  had  been  on 
friendly  relations  with  his  father,  to  secure  for 
his  use  the  materials  and  workmanship  and  the 
industrial  and  commercial  skill  for  which  Phoenicia 
was  pre-eminent  in  the  ancient  world.  His  first 
great  undertaking  was  that  of  building  at  Jeru- 
salem a  gorgeous  temple  to  "  the  Lord,"  which  his 
father  Is  supposed  to  have  promised,  and  an  Im- 


114    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

posing  palace  for  himself  and  his  retinue.     It  was 
his  ambition  to  shine  among  the  potentates  of  the 
earth,  and  to  bring  wealth  and  power  to  the  sup- 
port of  his  kingdom,  with  the  help  of  an  alliance 
with  the  greatest  commercial  nation  of  the  time. 
With  Hiram  he  is  said  to  have  devised  and  carried 
out  expeditions  for  bringing  gold  and  silver,  pre- 
cious stones  and  other  riches  from  distant  lands,  ap- 
parently out  of  the  dark  continent  of  Africa.     We 
are  vouchsafed  no  Information  as  to  the  means 
by  which  these  were  obtained,  but  they  may  have 
been  similar  to  those  used  by  Spain  to  enrich  her- 
self from  newly  discovered  countries  In  later  cen- 
turies. 

The  material  success  achieved  by  Solomon  led 
the  panegyrists  of  his  reign  to  magnify  and  glorify 
his  knowledge  and  wisdom,  which  was  to  be  ac- 
counted for  after  the  manner  of  his  time.     It  was 
said  that  the  Lord  appeared  to  him  In  a  dream, 
when  he  went  to  Gibeon  to  sacrifice,  and  offered 
him  whatever  he  should  ask  for,  and  was  so  grat- 
ified that  he  asked  for  ^'  an  understanding  heart '' 
to  enable  him  to  "  judge  this  thy  great  people," 
that  he  promised  to  add  to  this  "  both  riches  and 
honour,"  Insomuch  that  there  should  not  be  any 
among  kings  like  unto  him.     His  kingdom  was 
neither  extensive  nor  populous,  but.  In  the  hyper- 
bole characteristic  of  the  writers,  the  people  are 
referred  to  as  beyond  computation  in  number,  "  as 
the  sand  which  is.  by  the  sea  for  multitude."     The 


DAVID  AND  SOLOMON  115 

latest  editor  of  the  narrative  took  occasion  to  qual- 
ify Solomon's  devotion  to  the  Lord  with  the  state- 
ment that  he  sacrificed  and  offered  Incense  In  the 
high  places,  and  to  make  the  Lord  warn  him  In 
his  dream  that  he  must  walk  In  his  ways  and  keep 
his  statutes  and  commandments  as  his  father 
David  had  done,  if  he  would  lengthen  his  days. 
After  this  dream  and  the  promise  of  wisdom 
and  greatness,  the  story  of  the  two  harlots  who 
quarrelled  over  the  possession  of  the  surviving 
child  was  introduced  as  an  example  of  wonderful 
wisdom.  Then  to  illustrate  the  monarch's  wealth 
and  power  there  is  a  statement  regarding  his  chief 
officers  and  the  means  by  which  the  royal  house- 
hold was  provided  with  subsistence,  which  must 
have  been  a  heavy  charge  upon  the  country.  The 
glory  and  greatness,  the  wealth  and  security  of 
the  kingdom  and  the  marvellous  knowledge  and 
wisdom  of  the  king  being  duly  magnified  by  state- 
ments which  cannot  be  verified  and  can  only  be 
refuted  by  the  rules  of  probability  or  credibility, 
such  as  would  be  applied  elsewhere,  much  space 
is  given  to  the  building  and  equipping  of  the  tem- 
ple, the  details  of  which  are  hardly  more  inter- 
esting than  Homer's  catalogue  of  the  Greek  ships 
before  Troy.  The  account  of  the  dedication  of 
the  temple,  with  the  King's  blessing  of  the  "  con- 
gregation of  Israel  "  and  his  prolonged  invocation 
to  the  "  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,"  is  demonstrably 
of  late  production  and  is  pervaded  with  the  spirit 


ii6    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

of  the  Deuteronomic  law.  It  contains  unmistak- 
able allusions  to  the  later  experience  of  the  na- 
tion, and,  In  the  latter  part  of  the  invocation,  to 
the  "  captivity "  and  promise  of  restoration 
through  repentance  and  supplication.  There  is 
the  same  tone  of  retrospect  In  the  second  appear- 
ance of  the  Lord  to  Solomon  In  a  dream,  "  as  he 
had  appeared  unto  him  at  Gibeon,"  for  a  repeti- 
tion of  warning  and  promise. 

After  all  this  edification  we  are  permitted  to 
resort  to  the  primitive  story  of  material  greatness, 
and  the  expedition  to  Ophir  is  made  the  prelude 
to  the  visit  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba,  which  is  so  like 
a  tale  out  of  the  Thousand  and  One  Nights.  The 
statistics  of  wealth  with  which  this  Is  garnished 
are  doubtless  as  exact  as  those  that  tell  of  the  In- 
numerable population  and  the  multitude  of  the 
enemies  of  Israel  who  were  wont  to  fall  in  battle 
when  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  was  aroused. 

But  It  was  necessary  to  account  for  the  fact  that 
Solomon's  Kingdom  was  doomed  to  fall  from  its 
greatness  at  his  death,  notwithstanding  all  the  pres- 
tige of  his  wisdom  and  wealth  as  a  ruler  and  the 
glories  of  David  as  a  warlike  monarch,  and  In 
spite  of  the  peculiar  affection  of  "  the  Lord  '* 
for  these  two  successful  kings.  The  fact  is  that 
the  nation  was  weakened  and  the  hegemony  of 
Judah  was  undermined  by  the  prosperity  and  lux- 
ury of  Solomon's  reign,  while  his  son  and  heir, 
Rehoboam,   was  a   vain  and   arrogant  weakling. 


DAVTD  AND  SOLOMON  117 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  stronghold  of  Mount 
Zion  and  the  establishment  there  of  a  great  centre 
of  worship  with  a  splended  temple  and  palace,  it 
is  probable  that  the  revolt  of  the  *'  ten  tribes  "  un- 
der Jeroboam  would  have  resulted  in  the  com- 
plete subjugation  if  not  the  obliteration  of  Judah. 
As  it  was,  the  ancient  name  of  Israel  was  assumed 
as  the  undisputed  title  of  the  new  Kingdom  of  the 
North,  which  for  a  long  time  flaunted  its  su- 
periority over  that  from  which  it  had  been  torn 
away  by  successful  insurrection,  and  raised  the 
name  of  Joseph  to  a  glory  that  was  finally  accepted 
as  the  common  heritage. 

But  the  "  theocratic  pragmatism  "  demanded  a 
different  explanation.  Not  only  had  Solomon 
married  an  Egyptian  wife  at  the  start  and  sacri- 
ficed in  the  high  places  before  the  temple  was 
built,  but  he  "  loved  many  strange  women,"  which 
means  simply  foreign  women,  and  took  wives  and 
concubines  from  the  neighbouring  nations,  and 
these  are  said  to  have  "  turned  away  his  heart 
after  other  gods  "  when  he  was  old.  This  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Deuteronomist  compiler  of  this 
history  made  the  Lord  "  angry  with  Solomon," 
and  he  was  plainly  told  that  inasmuch  as  he  had 
gone  back  on  his  word  and  failed  to  keep  his 
"  covenant,"  the  Lord  would  surely  rend  the  king- 
dom away  from  him  and  give  it  to  his  servant. 
But  for  David's  sake  he  would  wait  till  Solomon 
was  dead  and  rend  It  from  his  son;  and,  still  for 


ii8     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

David's  sake  and  for  the  sake  of  Jerusalem,  he 
would  leave  him  one  tribe.  This  was  to  conform 
with  what  had  happened  long  before  the  writer's 
time.  But  the  real  fact  was  that  Jeroboam,  the 
son  of  Nebat,  a  capable  and  Industrious  young 
man  and  a  '*  mighty  man  of  valour,"  son  of  an 
Ephralmlte  widow,  whom  Solomon  had  placed  In 
charge  of  "  the  labour  of  the  house  of  Joseph  " 
in  his  building  operations  at  Jerusalem,  had  re- 
belled against  the  king's  authority  and  been  com- 
pelled to  flee  to  Egypt  to  save  his  life.  When 
the  king  died,  all  Ephralm  and  the  other  North- 
ern tribes  were  ready  to  rise  and  declare  their  In- 
dependence, and  Jeroboam  came  back  to  head  the 
insurrection  and  was  made  ruler  of  the  new  king- 
dom, which  was  far  more  powerful  than  what  was 
left  of  the  old  one. 

This  prosaic  fact  not  only  had  to  be  accounted 
for  by  the  recreancy  of  Solomon,  and  threatened 
beforehand  by  "  the  Lord  "  himself,  but  a  prophet 
must  be  made  Instrumental  In  bringing  it  about. 
So,  according  to  that  same  Deuteronomist  writer 
of  a  later  century,  the  prophet  Ahijah  of  Shiloh 
met  Jeroboam  outside  of  Jerusalem,  clad  in  a 
new  garment  which  he  tore  Into  twelve  pieces, 
giving  ten  to  the  rebellious  Ephralmlte  as  a  token 
that  the  Lord  would  make  him  king  of  the  ten 
tribes,  still  reserving  Judah,  for  David's  sake. 
This  prophet  repeats  the  words  of  the  Lord,  as 
prophets  were  wont  to  do,  and  promised  Jeroboam 


DAVID  AND  SOLOMON  119 

that  if  he  would  walk  In  the  way  of  the  Lord  and 
obey  his  commands  after  the  manner  of  David 
he  would  build  him  a  "  sure  house,"  while  he 
would  '^  afflict  the  house  of  David,  but  not  for- 
ever." So  the  way  was  prepared  for  what  hap- 
pened when  Solomon  "  slept  with  his  fathers  and 
was  buried  in  the  City  of  David  his  father,  and 
Rehoboam  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead." 


VII 

THEOCRATIC    ACCOUNT    OF   THE    TWO    KINGDOMS 

The  account  of  the  two  kingdoms,  which  be- 
gins with  the  Twelfth  Chapter  of  the  first  book 
of  Kings,  Is  not  a  history.  It  was  compiled  In 
the  latter  days  of  the  Kingdom  of  Judah,  revised 
and  added  to  In  the  exile,  and  retouched  after  the 
return,  and  Its  purpose  was  not  to  record  facts 
but  to  Inculcate  a  doctrine,  the  doctrine  that  events 
were  ordered  by  "  the  Lord,"  that  Is,  Yahweh, 
the  God  of  Israel;  that  all  calamities  to  either  na- 
tion were  Inflicted  by  him  as  a  punishment  for 
sin  In  disobeying  his  commands,  neglecting  his 
worship  and  going  after  other  gods,  and  that  his 
people  must  depend  wholly  upon  him  for  rescue 
from  peril,  success  against  their  enemies  and  pros- 
perity in  the  land  which  he  had  given  them.  If 
other  nations  attacked  them.  It  was  because  he 
put  them  up  to  It  and  used  them  as  his  scourge; 
and  If  his  people  repented  and  obeyed  and  wor- 
shipped him  In  humility  and  faithfulness,  he  would 
turn  their  enemies  back,  and  even  destroy  them 
for  their  presumption  if  they  persisted.  This  was 
the  teaching  of  the  prophets  and  was  the  belief  of 

120 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  121 

those  who  had  a  hand  In  the  final  account  of  the 
vicissitudes  of  the  kingdoms. 

This  account  was  made  up  from  a  variety  of 
material,  part  of  It  drawn  from  the  annals  of  the 
two  kingdoms,  previously  brought  together,  much 
of  It  from  legendary  and  mythical  sources,  and 
some  of  It  from  the  Imagination  of  the  compilers, 
as  they  conceived  of  that  which  they  could  not 
know.  There  was  no  effort  at  accuracy  of  state- 
ment and  little  at  consistency.  The  generally  ac- 
cepted date  of  the  death  of  Solomon  Is  933  B.  C, 
and  the  known  date  of  the  capture  of  Samaria  and 
the  destruction  of  the  Northern  Kingdom  Is  722, 
making  the  duration  of  that  kingdom  211  years. 
According  to  the  chronological  scheme  of  the  com- 
piler, who  adopted  no  fixed  era  but  dated  the 
reign  of  each  king  of  either  kingdom  from  the 
regnal  year  of  the  king  of  the  other,  and  gave 
the  length  of  the  reign  In  every  case,  this  period 
covered  241  years,  7  months  and  7  days  In  Israel 
and  260  years  In  Judah,  which  indicates  consider- 
able inaccuracy  In  the  reckoning. 

The  compiler  or  redactor  who  connected  the 
various  reigns  in  this  loose  manner  and  briefly 
characterised  the  different  kings  as  he  dismissed 
them  from  the  scene,  is  usually  designated  by 
scholars  as  a  "  Deuteronomist,"  or  a  writer  im- 
bued with  the  doctrine  of  the  law  which  taught 
that  worship  anywhere  but  at  Jerusalem  was  sin 
and  made  obedience  to  the  commands  of  Yahweh 


122     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

the  test  of  all  merit.  This  law  was  unknown 
before  the  reign  of  Joslah,  a  century  after  the  fall 
of  Samaria,  but  that  did  not  prevent  condemna- 
tion of  Jeroboam  and  all  his  successors  for  de- 
parting from  it,  or  make  it  other  than  sin  for  the 
earlier  kings  of  Judah  to  tolerate  worship  "  in 
the  high  places,"  which  became  an  enticement  to 
heathenism.  That  was  the  chief  fault  imputed 
even  to  Solomon,  which  caused  the  rending  of 
most  of  the  kingdom  from  the  House  of  David. 
Until  the  attacks  came  from  the  powerful  em- 
pire of  the  East,  in  the  Eighth  Century  B.  C,  the 
kingdom  of  Israel,  or  Ephraim,  was  much  the 
stronger  and  more  flourishing,  and  for  a  consider- 
able part  of  the  time  Judah  was  in  a  state  of 
vassalage  to  it,  or  to  some  ally  as  a  protection 
against  it.  Its  greater  extent,  the  survival  of 
many  of  the  Canaanites  in  its  territory,  and  its 
contact  with  Phoenicia  and  Syria,  made  its  people 
and  its  rulers  more  prone  to  the  enticement  of 
other  cults  than  that  of  Yahweh,  or  more  toler- 
ant of  them,  while  Judah  had  the  advantage  of 
comparative  Isolation,  an  almost  impregnable 
stronghold  at  Jerusalem,  the  possession  of  a 
splendid  temple  as  a  centre  of  worship,  and  a 
stable  dynasty  to  which  the  achievements  of  David 
and  Solomon  gave  a  lasting  prestige.  While  the 
direct  line  of  David  continued  on  the  throne  of 
Judah  until  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Neb- 
uchadrezzar in  586  B.  C,  twelve  reigns  covering 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  123 

the  period  from  Solomon  to  the  destruction  of 
Samaria  In  722,  there  were  nine  dynasties  and 
seventeen  kings  In  Israel,  from  Jeroboam  to 
Hoshea.  Seven  of  the  kings  were  murdered  by 
their  successors  and  one  burned  himself  In  the 
palace  after  holding  It  only  seven  days.  The 
situation  of  Judah  In  these  respects  and  the  rising 
of  such  mighty  advocates  of  Yahweh's  right  and 
power  as  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  In  times  of  crisis, 
gave  the  "  peculiar  people "  their  wonderful 
solidarity  and  saved  their  religion  as  a  heritage 
to  after  times.  It  also  gave  to  the  Jews  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  Israelites  the  opportunity  to 
determine  the  final  character  of  the  literature  that 
was  to  be  sanctified  as  the  epic  of  the  race  of 
Jacob. 

The  revolt  of  the  Northern  tribes  under  the 
lead  of  Ephralm  at  the  death  of  Solomon  was 
easily  accomplished,  and  the  daring  youth  who 
had  started  the  rebellion  in  the  face  of  that 
monarch  returned  from  Egypt  to  be  made  the 
first  King  of  Israel,  as  a  separate  realm,  at 
Shechem.  As  a  civil  ruler  he  was  probably  the 
ablest  man  that  ever  sat  on  a  throne  in  either 
kingdom  and  the  debt  of  the  literature  of  both  to 
his  sojourn  in  Egypt  cannot  be  estimated.  His 
great  offence  in  the  eyes  of  the  later  Judean 
writers  was  setting  up  the  worship  of  Yahweh  at 
the  two  extremes  of  his  kingdom.  Bethel  and 
Dan,  and  centring  it  there  by  golden  images  of 


124    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

calves,  or  bulls;  but  those  symbols  had  been  In 
common  use,  and  it  was  not  until  long  afterward 
that  they  were  regarded  as  sinful  representations 
of  the  deity.  The  contest  against  the  use  of 
images  In  Yahweh's  worship  continued  even  in 
Judah  until  after  the  promulgation  of  the  Deu- 
teronomic  law  in  the  reign  of  Josiah,  and  was  not 
altogether  successful  even  then.  In  Jeroboam's 
time  it  was  not  even  condemned,  though  at 
Jerusalem  the  old  "  ark  of  the  Lord,"  with  its 
later  adornment  of  Cherubim,  took  the  place  of 
the  ephod  and  the  teraphim  in  the  central  place  of 
worship. 

In  the  scanty  account  of  Jeroboam's  reign  the 
hand  of  the  theocratic  compiler  of  the  record  is 
conspicuous,  and  his  leading  motive  Is  to  attribute 
all  the  calamities  which  befel  the  Northern  King- 
dom to  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat 
and  the  example  he  had  set,  and  always  to  credit 
predictions  of  what  happened  to  prophets  or 
"  men  of  God."  Even  the  failure  of  Rehoboam 
to  make  a  hopeless  fight  for  his  entire  royal  heri- 
tage was  said  to  have  been  due  to  a  warning  from 
a  "  man  of  God  "  named  Shemalah,  for  had  not 
Yahweh  himself  rent  the  realm  asunder  on  ac- 
count of  the  recreancy  of  Solomon  and  given  the 
larger  part  to  Jeroboam  through  the  agency  of 
the  prophet  Ahijah?  When  the  king  had  set 
up  his  altar  at  Bethel,  a  "  man  of  God  "  appears 
out  of  Judah  to  predict  what  was  to  happen  to 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  125 

It  in  the  days  of  Joslah,  even  the  name  of  the 
latter  being  given  centuries  beforehand.  Such  a 
prophecy  was  not  difficult  after  what  had  hap- 
pened in  the  writer's  time,  and  that,  with  the 
miracle  of  the  withered  hand,  marks  the  episode 
as  mythical,  even  admitting  that  the  familiar 
language  of  men  in  converse  with  each  other  could 
have  been  preserved  for  three  or  four  hundred 
years  in  that  age  of  the  world.  Equally  mythical 
must  be  the  tales  of  the  fate  of  that  same  "  man 
of  God,"  as  the  result  of  the  duplicity  of  the 
"  old  prophet  "  of  Bethel,  for  which  there  seemed 
to  be  no  adequate  excuse,  since  such  a  test  of  the 
fidelity  of  a  "  man  of  God  "  by  absolute  lying  was 
hardly  reasonable  or  just. 

It  would  appear  that  Jeroboam  had  a  child 
who  died,  and  that  the  son  who  succeeded  him 
was  killed,  after  a  reign  of  two  years,  by  Baasha, 
who  took  possession  of  his  throne.  These  were 
events  to  be  explained  and  to  have  been  foretold 
by  prophets.  Hence  the  story  of  sending  the 
mother  of  the  sick  child  in  disguise  to  the 
prophet  Ahijah  at  Shiloh,  the  prevision  of  the 
trick,  and  the  prediction  that  the  child  would  die 
and  that  the  house  of  Jeroboam  would  be  cut  off. 
Even  the  rooting  up  and  scattering  of  Israel  two 
centuries  later  was  duly  predicted.  These  stories 
served  the  chief  purpose  of  the  writer,  but  for 
the  real  achievements  of  the  king,  "  how  he 
warred  and  how  he  reigned,"  we  are  referred  to 


126     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

the  "  Chronicles  of  the  Kings  of  Israel,"  which 
fortunately  for  that  purpose  and  unfortunately  for 
our  knowledge,  were  not  preserved. 

The  slight  account  of  the  reign  of  Rehoboam 
and  his  son  Abijam  in  Judah  indicates  that  mat- 
ters were  no  better  In  that  realm  than  in  the  other, 
so  far  as  the  manner  of  worship  and  religious 
conduct  were  concerned;  but  when  the  long  reign 
of  the  other  son,  Asa,  came  in,  there  was  a  change 
for  the  better.  There  seem  to  have  been  not 
only  idols,  but  Sodomites  to  be  "  removed,"  and 
even  the  king's  mother  had  an  "  abominable 
image,"  that  was  burnt.  But  though  it  is  said 
that  "  the  heart  of  Asa  was  perfect  with  the  Lord 
all  his  days  "  he  had  to  strip  "  the  house  of  the 
Lord  "  of  its  most  precious  treasures  to  buy  an 
alliance  with  the  king  of  Syria  and  save  himself 
from  Baasha,  who  had  with  Israelite  vigour  and 
ruthlessness  exterminated  the  house  of  Jeroboam. 
There  Is  little  more  said  of  Asa,  except  that  he 
was  at  war  with  Baasha  "  all  their  days  "  and 
that  in  his  old  age  he  was  "  diseased  in  his  feet," 
but  as  Baasha  walked  In  the  way  of  Jeroboam 
and  did  evil  In  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  a  prophet 
must  needs  appear  to  convey  to  him  *'  the  word 
of  the  Lord  "  to  the  effect  that  It  was  the  latter 
who  had  raised  him  from  the  dust  and  made  him 
prince  over  his  people,  (by  assassination,)  and 
who  would  sweep  away  his  house  as  he  had  swept 
away  that  of  Jeroboam,  in  like  bloody  fashion. 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  127 

Accordingly,  after  his  son  Elah  had  reigned  two 
years  one  of  his  captains,  ZImrl  by  name,  killed 
him  while  he  was  ''  drinking  himself  drunk  "  at 
his  capital,  TIrzah,  and  then  slaughtered  all  his 
household;  but  It  was  this  same  ZImrl  that  set 
fire  to  the  palace  and  perished  In  It  after  "  reign- 
ing ''  seven  days,  when  he  was  beset  by  a  rival 
*'  captain  of  the  host,"  Omrl  by  name. 

Omri  had  a  conspiracy  to  overcome  at  the  start, 
but  he  established  a  dynasty  that  lasted  for  four 
reigns  before  wholesale  assassination,  duly  pre- 
dicted and  prepared  for,  made  another  change; 
and  he  built  a  new  capital  on  the  hill  of  Samaria. 
Of  course,  he  did  evil  and  dealt  wickedly.  No 
king  of  Israel  could  do  otherwise;  but  his  deeds 
were  only  recorded  in  the  lost  chronicles  of  his 
kingdom.  No  prophet  figures  in  his  reign,  but 
the  deficiency  is  made  up  in  that  of  his  son  Ahab, 
who,  not  content  with  walking  in  the  sins  of 
Jeroboam,  married  the  Phoenician,  or  SIdonlan, 
princess  Jezebel,  and  tolerated  the  worship  of 
Baal  at  Samaria.  Thereby  did  he  "  yet  more 
provoke  the  Lord  (Yahweh),  the  God  of 
Israel,  to  anger  than  all  the  Kings  of  Israel  that 
were  before  him."  It  is  the  conflict  between  the 
worship  of  Yahweh  and  of  Baal,  in  which  the 
mysterious  prophet  Elijah  figures,  that  chiefly 
made  his  reign  interesting  to  the  theocratic  writer 
and  makes  it  so  to  us.  Doubtless  this  name  of 
a    "  Tishbite "    who   was   of   the   sojourners    of 


128     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

Gllead  stands  for  a  real  person  in  those  stormy 
days,  but  he  is  so  enveloped  in  mists  of  myth  and 
legend  that  the  tangible  facts  of  his  career  are 
hardly  traceable. 

The  material  relating  to  Elijah  and  that  re- 
lating to  his  successor  Elisha  is  taken  bodily  from 
old  Ephraimite  writings  and  has  a  highly  pictur- 
esque and  epic  quality;  but  it  has  almost  wholly 
the  character  of  myth,  with  traces  of  historic 
legend,  and  it  is  nearly  as  ancient  as  that  relating 
to  the  patriarchs  and  the  ante-diluvian  world. 
Associated  with  It  is  other  material  of  Ephraimite 
origin  pertaining  to  the  conflicts  between  Israel 
and  Syria,  which  has  much  of  the  same  mythical 
or  legendary  quality.  The  passages  made  up 
from  this  material,  slightly  modified  here  and 
there  In  the  compiling  and  editing,  contain  the 
substance  of  what  we  are  told  of  the  Northern 
kingdom,  but  It  Is  more  than  we  are  told  about 
Judah  for  the  same  period,  and  far  more  inter- 
esting from  a  literary  point  of  view,  though  less 
didactic  and  edifying. 

Apparently  there  were  three  years  of  drought 
culminating  In  famine  In  the  time  of  Ahab,  and 
Elijah  the  Tishbite  Is  Introduced  suddenly  as  hav- 
ing predicted  It  In  the  name  of  "  the  Lord,  the 
God  of  Israel,'^  and  as  being  then  sent  to  a  brook 
that  was  *'  before  Jordan  "  and  fed  by  ravens. 
With  equal  suddenness  "  the  Lord "  sends  him 
back  across  the  country  to  Zidon  to  sustain  life 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  129 

by  making  the  widow's  barrel  of  meal  and  cruse 
of  oil  Inexhaustible,  and  to  reward  her  for  her 
care  by  bringing  her  dead  child  to  life.  Ac- 
cording to  tradition  Ahab's  Phoenician  wife  had 
not  only  Introduced  the  worship  of  Baal  at 
Samaria,  but  had  persecuted  and  nearly  ex- 
terminated the  prophets  of  Yahweh.  It  Is  im- 
plied that  the  famine  was  a  consequence  of  this, 
and  there  was  to  be  an  expiation  by  a  sacrifice  of 
the  prophets  of  Baal. 

So,  "  after  many  days,"  Elijah  was  sent  to 
Ahab  to  bring  this  about.  He  meets  the  faithful 
Obadlah  of  the  king's  household,  who  claims  to 
have  saved  a  hundred  of  the  prophets  by  hiding 
them  in  caves,  and  through  him  reaches  the 
monarch  who  greets  him  as  the  "  troubler  of 
Israel."  The  king  consents  to  the  test  at  Mount 
Carmel  as  to  whether  Baal  or  Yahweh  is  God. 
The  four  hundred  and  fifty  prophets  of  Baal  and 
four  hundred  prophets  of  the  Asherah  call  in 
vain  upon  Baal  to  send  fire  to  light  the  sacrifice 
on  the  altar  while  Elijah  derides  them,  but  in 
answer  to  his  simple  prayer  to  the  God  of 
Abraham,  of  Isaac  and  of  Israel,  after  the  altar 
and  the  sacrifice  have  been  drenched  with  water, 
"  the  Lord  "  lets  fall  the  fire  that  consumes  the 
sacrifice  and  the  very  stones  of  the  altar.  There- 
upon the  sole  prophet  of  Israel  slays  all  those  of 
Baal  at  the  brook  KIshon,  and  the  rain  long 
waited  for  comes  in  floods  while  Ahab  drives  in 


130    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

haste  to  Jezreel  In  his  chariot  and  the  prophet 
outruns  him  on  foot.  The  enraged  Jezebel 
threatens  his  life  and  "  the  Lord  "  sends  him  to 
the  wilderness  beyond  Beersheba  In  the  distant 
part  of  Judah,  where  he  Is  fed  by  an  angel  with 
food  that  sustains  him  forty  days  while  he  goes  to 
Mount  Horeb,  the  scene  of  the  revelation  to 
Moses.  Here  the  Lord  appears  unto  him,  not  In 
the  wind  that  rends  the  rocks  of  the  mountain, 
nor  in  the  earthquake  that  shakes  its  foundations, 
nor  yet  in  the  fire  that  blasts  Its  surface,  but  In 
a  *'  still  small  voice  "  that  commissions  him  to 
go  to  Damascus  and  anoint  Hazael  king  over 
Syria  and  to  anoint  Jehu  king  over  Israel,  that 
there  may  be  more  slaughter  of  those  who  have 
slain  the  prophets,  forsaken  the  covenant  and 
overthrown  the  altars.  Thus  is  prefigured  the 
fate  that  overtook  Benhadad  of  Syria  and  the 
successors  of  Ahab.  The  prophet  was  also  to 
anoint  Ellsha  as  his  own  successor. 

All  this  is  as  vivid  and  dramatic  as  anything 
in  Homer,  and  we  have  the  very  words  of  "  the 
Lord ''  and  of  his  prophets  as  well  as  of  the  other 
characters  in  the  varied  story.  It  is  also  in  all 
detail  as  mythical  as  the  wrath  of  Achilles,  the 
prayer  of  Chryses  and  the  pestilence  Inflicted  upon 
the  Greeks  by  Apollo,  and  would  be  readily 
recognised  as  such  in  any  literature  but  that  of 
the  Hebrews,  who  were  no  more  wedded  to  fact 
or  devoid  of  imagination  than  the  Greeks. 


.THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  131 

The  story  of  Elijah  Is  Interrupted  after  the 
scene  on  Mount  Horeb  and  after  he  has  cast  his 
mantle  upon  Ellsha,  who  thenceforth  follows 
him,  in  order  to  bring  In  from  the  other  Ephra- 
Imlte  source  the  beginning  of  the  conflict  between 
Ahab  and  Benhadad  of  Syria,  which  was  to  re- 
sult in  a  change  of  dynasty  for  both  realms. 
The  King  of  Israel  met  the  arrogant  demands 
and  boastful  threats  of  Benhadad  with  the  spirited 
defiance:  "Let  not  him  that  girdeth  on  his 
harness  boast  himself  as  he  that  putteth  It  off  " ; 
and,  notwithstanding  the  sins  Imputed  to  him  by 
the  Judean  writers  of  a  later  day,  the  Ephraimlte 
tale  makes  him  victorious  by  the  favour  of  the 
Lord,  and  shows  that  there  were  still  prophets  In 
Israel  besides  Elijah.  The  Syrian  king  Is  advised 
that  his  discomfiture  was  due  to  the  fact  that 
Israel's  God  was  a  god  of  the  hills,  and  In  the  next 
campaign  he  makes  his  attack  in  the  plain.  But 
though  the  "  children  of  Israel,"  encamped  at 
Aphek,  were  "  like  two  little  flocks  of  kids  "  and 
the  Syrians  "  filled  the  country,"  the  Lord  dem- 
onstrated that  he  was  a  god  of  the  valleys  as  well 
as  of  the  hills  by  delivering  the  Syrians  Into  the 
hands  of  his  little  army  and  enabling  It  to  slay 
"  a  hundred  thousand  footmen  In  one  day,"  while 
27,000  more  were  crushed  by  a  falling  wall,  surely 
a  terrible  slaughter  for  such  a  puny  war.  The 
humiliation  of  Benhadad  and  the  triumph  of 
Ahab  were  complete,  but  by  one  of  those  curious 


132     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

subterfuges  that  are  related  of  prophets  and  sons 
of  prophets,  "  the  Lord  "  let  the  King  of  Israel 
know  that  he  had  offended  In  showing  magnanim- 
ity to  the  Syrian  king,  whom  the  vindictive  deity 
wished  him  to  destroy. 

Another  passage  from  the  story  of  Elijah  Is 
then  introduced  by  the  compiler  to  set  forth  yet 
more  the  iniquity  of  Ahab  and  Jezebel  and  to  ac- 
count for  the  bloody  fate  that  awaited  them. 
Their  sin  consisted  in  taking  the  vineyard  of 
Naboth  to  add  to  the  royal  domain  at  Jezreel, 
which  led  Elijah  to  convey  to  Ahab  the  threat  of 
the  Lord  that  the  dogs  should  lick  his  blood  in 
the  place  where  they  licked  the  blood  of  Naboth, 
and  that  the  dogs  should  eat  Jezebel  by  the  ram- 
part of  Jezreel.  This  is  figuratively,  if  not  liter- 
ally, what  had  happened  long  before  the  story  was 
written;  but  the  prophecy  was  not  explicit  enough 
for  the  purpose  of  the  theocratic  narrator,  and 
he  injected  the  threat  of  the  Lord  that  the  house 
of  Ahab  should  be  destroyed  like  the  house 
of  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat  and  the  house  of 
Baasha  the  son  of  Ahljah,  for  the  provocation 
wherewith  he  had  provoked  the  Lord  to  anger. 
This  was  meant  to  credit  more  emphatically  to 
the  proper  source  what  happened  when  the 
anointed  Jehu  came  to  his  own.  But  the  older 
writer  lets  us  know  that  Ahab  humbled  himself 
in  repentance  and  that  was  why  the  evil  day  did 
not  befall  his  house  In  his  own  time,  but  in  that 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  133 

of  his  son.  In  any  modern  view  his  offence  was 
less  than  that  of  David  in  the  matter  of  Uriah 
the  Hittite. 

The  story  of  the  battle  of  Ramoth-Gilead,  which 
resulted  in  the  king's  death,  is  drawn  from  the  old 
Ephraimite  source  and  illustrates  the  chronolog- 
ical incongruity  of  the  disjointed  compilation,  in 
that  Jehoshaphat  of  Judah  appears  as  the  ally  of 
Ahab  in  the  effort  to  recover  that  place  from 
Syria,  though  he  had  not  previously  been  men- 
tioned, and  his  accession  to  the  throne  of  Judah  is 
spoken  of  farther  on.  According  to  the  chrono- 
logical scheme  of  the  compiler,  he  had  been  King 
of  Judah  seventeen  years  when  he  joined  Ahab 
in  this  unlucky  enterprise.  An  interesting  feature 
of  this  episode  is  the  revelation  of  the  manner 
in  which  the  ordinary  prophet  of  the  time  took 
part  in  the  doings  of  kings.  Ahab  gathered  four 
hundred  prophets  for  a  consultation,  whether  of 
Baal  or  of  Yahweh  is  not  stated,  but  their  counsel 
was  to  go  up  to  the  battle  against  Ramoth-Gilead, 
"  for  the  Lord  shall  deliver  it  unto  the  hand  of 
the  king."  But  Jehoshaphat  wished  to  know  if 
there  was  not  *'  here  beside  a  prophet  of  the 
Lord,"  which  brought  out  Micaiah,  whom  Ahab 
hated  because  he  only  prophesied  evil  for  him. 
When  Zedekiah  in  symbolical  fashion  made  him* 
horns  of  iron  and  declared  that  the  Lord  said  that 
with  these  the  king  shall  "  push  the  Syrians  till 
they  be  consumed,"  and  all  the  prophets  bade  him 


134    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

"  go  up  and  prosper,"  MIcalah  echoed  their  ad- 
vice in  apparent  derision,  for,  after  the  king  had 
rebuked  him,  he  "  saw  all  Israel  scattered  upon 
the  mountains  as  sheep  that  have  no  shepherd," 
and  advised  that  every  man  "  return  to  his  house 
in  peace,"  whereupon  he  was  again  rebuked  for 
prophesying  only  evil.  Then  he  declared  that  he 
"  saw  the  Lord  sitting  on  his  throne  and  all  the 
host  of  heaven  standing  by  him  on  his  right  hand 
and  on  his  left,"  and  sending  forth  a  "  lying 
spirit "  to  entice  Ahab  through  the  other  prophets 
to  go  up  and  fall  at  Ramoth-Gilead.  This 
brought  a  blow  from  Zedekiah  upon  the  cheek  of 
Micaiah  and  the  imprisoning  of  the  latter,  to  be 
fed  upon  the  bread  of  affliction  and  the  water  of 
affliction.  Nevertheless,  the  battle  went  against 
the  king  and  he  was  killed  in  his  chariot  and 
brought  to  Samaria  to  be  buried;  and  the  editor 
of  the  narrative  takes  pains  to  note  that  when  his 
chariot  was  washed  the  dogs  licked  up  the  blood. 
After  some  of  the  dry  notes  of  the  Judean  com- 
piler of  the  accession  of  the  son  of  Ahab  to  the 
throne  of  Israel,  and  of  the  accession  of  Jehosha- 
phat  to  the  throne  of  Judah,  with  a  brief  sum- 
mary of  the  reign  of  the  latter,  and  a  statement 
of  his  death  and  burial,  there  is  another  instalment 
of  the  doings  of  Elijah,  who  always  appears  in  an 
atmosphere  of  mystery.  Ahab's  son  Ahaziah, 
who  reigned  only  two  years,  fell  through  a  lattice 
in  his  upper  chamber  and  was  "  sick."     Instead 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  135 

of  appealing  to  "  the  Lord  "  on  that  occasion  he 
sent  messengers  to  Baal-zebub  of  Ekron  to  In- 
quire whether  he  would  get  well.  This  offended 
"  the  Lord,"  and  his  "  angel  "  sent  Elijah  to  meet 
the  messengers  of  the  ruler  of  Samaria  and  turn 
them  back  to  ask  the  king  if  there  is  no  god  in 
Israel  that  he  sends  to  inquire  of  the  god  of  Ekron. 
When  the  king  learns  that  his  messengers  were 
turned  back  by  a  "  hairy  man  and  girt  with  a  girdle 
of  leather,"  he  recognises  the  Tishbite,  whom  he 
probably  did  not  know  where  to  find  before,  inas- 
much as  he  was  left  in  the  heathen  darkness  of 
his  father's  palace  where  Jezebel  still  survived. 
Learning  of  his  coming  he  sends  a  captain  with 
fifty  men  to  him  as  he  sits  on  the  top  of  a  hill, 
to  bring  the  ''  man  of  God  "  to  the  king  quickly. 
It  seems  rather  harsh  that  fire  should  be  Invoked 
from  heaven  to  destroy  two  captains  with  their 
fifties  before  a  third  by  humble  petition  prevails 
upon  the  angel  of  the  Lord  to  send  the  prophet 
to  tell  the  king  that  inasmuch  as  he  had  sent  to 
Baal-zebub  the  god  of  Ekron  "  because  there  Is 
no  god  in  Israel  to  inquire  of  his  word,"  he  shall 
not  "  come  down  from  his  bed,"  but  will  "  surely 
die."  An  awkward  note  is  injected  here  by  the 
compiler  saying  that  Jehoram  his  brother  began  to 
reign  in  his  stead  In  the  second  year  of  Jehoram 
the  son  of  Jehoshaphat  King  of  Judah,  though  a 
little  further  on  it  Is  said  that  this  same  Jehoram 
the  son  of  Ahab  began  to  reign  at  Samaria  in  the 


136     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

eighteenth  year  of  Jehoshaphat,  who  had  still 
seven  years  to  reign  at  Jerusalem  before  he  was 
succeeded  by  his  son  Jehoram. 

Between  these  two  notes  there  is  the  curious  tale 
of  the  manner  in  which  Elisha  succeeded  to  the 
prophetic  mantle  of  Elijah  and  the  latter  was  car- 
ried off  by  a  whirlwind.  It  is  made  to  appear 
as  though  the  older  prophet  were  trying  to  get 
away  from  the  younger,  and  that  the  latter  pur- 
sued him  back  and  forth  as  the  Lord  sent  him  first 
to  Gilgal,  then  to  Bethel,  then  to  Jericho,  and 
finally  across  the  Jordan,  where  they  were  parted 
by  a  chariot  of  fire  and  horses  of  fire,  while  Elijah 
disappeared  in  the  whirlwind.  Elisha's  course  in 
this  pursuit  and  his  objection  to  the  proposal  of 
the  "  sons  of  the  prophets  "  to  seek  for  the  prophet 
who  had  disappeared,  might  almost  raise  the  sus- 
picion that  the  other  had  made  way  with  his  pred- 
ecessor after  the  manner  of  the  kings  at  Samaria, 
and  that  his  taking-off  was  covered  with  this  cloud 
of  obvious  myth. 

Elisha  now  comes  more  into  the  light  of  prosaic 
fable  with  his  miracles.  He  begins  by  purifying 
the  springs  of  water  at  Jericho  with  a  cruse  of 
salt,  after  re-crossing  the  Jordan  by  smiting  the 
river  with  the  mantle  of  Elijah  to  make  a  way 
for  himself.  Then  he  goes  up  to  Bethel  to  inflict 
the  penalty  of  death  upon  forty-two  heedless  chil- 
dren who  greeted  him  as  bald  head.  This  seems 
like  a  severe  chastisement  to  teach  respect  for  a 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  137 

prophet  of  the  Lord.  He  figures  next  in  an  expe- 
dition of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah  and  of 
Edom  against  Moab,  the  account  of  which  seems 
to  have  been  drawn  from  an  Ephraimite  source 
similar  to  that  describing  the  conflicts  with  Syria. 
From  this  it  appears  that  the  sheep  raising  King 
of  Moab  was  a  vassal  of  Israel,  and  that  Jehosha- 
phat  of  Judah  and  the  King  of  Edom  were  also 
subject  to  the  commands  of  Jehoram.  Again  we 
have  a  curious  illustration  of  the  ways  of  prophets. 
Elisha  appears  as  accompanying  the  expedition, 
and  when  Jehoshaphat  asks  if  there  is  not  a 
prophet  of  the  Lord  to  inquire  of  regarding  a 
dearth  of  water,  he  is  called  upon,  and  while 
scorning  to  comply  with  the  request  of  a  son  of 
Ahab  and  Jezebel  consents  on  account  of  the  King 
of  Judah;  but  it  requires  the  playing  of  a  minstrel 
to  bring  on  the  ecstasy  and  the  vision  of  the  prophet. 

What  really  happened,  who  can  tell?  But  the 
story  is  that  the  Lord  bade  them  fill  the  valley 
with  trenches,  and  without  wind  or  rain  these  were 
filled  over  night  with  water  rushing  in  from  the 
way  of  Edom.  It  appeared  like  blood  to  the 
Moabites  in  the  morning  light  and  lured, them  to 
slaughter.  When  the  King  of  Moab  was  dis- 
comfited and  his  land  was  devastated,  he  offered 
his  son  as  a  burnt  offering  upon  the  wall,  but  why 
should  that  have  brought  great  indignation  or 
wrath  upon  Israel? 

After  this  episode  of  legendary  history  we  are 


138     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

brought  back  abruptly  to  a  series  of  Elisha's  mir- 
acles, some  of  which  are  not  of  a  dignified  order, 
like  that  of  relieving  a  widow  of  one  of  the  "  sons 
of  prophets  "  of  debt  by  making  her  pot  of  oil 
inexhaustible,  that  of  the  antidote  to  "  death  in  the 
pot,"  that  of  feeding  a  hundred  men  with  twenty 
barley  loaves  and  some  ears  of  corn  and  having 
some  "  left  thereof,"  and  causing  the  axe  that  flew 
from  its  helve  into  the  river  to  float  to  the  top 
by  casting  in  a  stick.  More  dignified,  but  not 
more  credible,  are  those  of  bringing  to  life  the 
son  of  the  "  great  woman  "  of  Shunam  and  curing 
the  Syrian  Captain  Naaman  of  leprosy  by  a  bath 
in  the  Jordan.  These  are  crude  and  primitive 
ways  of  illustrating  the  powers  of  a  prophet  of 
the  Lord,  but  characteristic  of  the  beliefs  of  the 
time. 

There  Is  more  of  epic  dignity  In  the  passage 
that  tells  of  Elisha's  revealing  the  secrets  of  Ben- 
hadad  to  the  King  of  Israel,  conjuring  up  a  host 
with  horses  and  chariots  when  the  Syrian  monarch 
seeks  to  entrap  him  at  Dothan,  getting  the  Lord 
to  smite  the  Syrians  with  blindness,  leading  them 
to  Samaria,  opening  their  eyes  to  their  peril  and 
forcing  them  to  submission.  But  why  had  It  been 
an  offence  on  a  former  occasion  to  let  Benhadad 
go  after  a  voluntary  submission,  if  now  his  men 
were  to  be  fed  and  sent  home  in  peace  after  being 
taken  captive  with  the  sword  and  the  bow?     Be- 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  139 

cause  consistency  is  not  required  in  such  poetic 
tales  any  more  than  credibility. 

"  And  the  bands  of  Syria  came  no  more  into  the 
land  of  Israel."  And  yet  we  are  immediately 
told,  albeit  from  a  different  source,  of  the  siege  of 
Samaria  by  Benhadad  and  all  his  "  host,"  which 
reduced  it  to  the  extreme  of  famine,  from  which 
It  was  miraculously  relieved  and  restored  to  plenty 
by  the  mysterious  disappearance  in  the  night  of 
the  besieging  army.  It  is  said  that  the  Syrian 
soldiers  heard  "  a  voice  of  chariots  and  a  noise 
of  horses  and  the  noise  of  a  great  host,"  and  "  said 
one  to  another,  Lo,  the  King  of  Israel  hath  hired 
against  us  the  kings  of  the  Hittites  and  the  kings 
of  the  Egyptians,"  whereupon  they  fled  In  disorder 
leaving  their  supplies  and  their  plunder  behind 
them.  If  there  is  any  historic  fact  back  of  this 
mysterious  raising  of  the  siege.  It  is  probable  that 
the  Assyrian  Army,  which  was  then  making  forays 
In  that  region,  or  a  rumour  of  its  approach,  had 
filled  the  Syrians  with  consternation  and  caused 
their  precipitate  flight.  But  historic  fact  Is  difli- 
cult  to  trace  or  to  verify  in  such  legendary  writing. 

It  is  a  somewhat  puerile  interruption  In  the  nar- 
rative that  tells  of  the  sending  of  that  same 
Shunamite  woman  to  the  land  of  the  Philistines 
at  the  time  of  a  seven  year  famine  and  restoring 
her  property  on  her  return.  But  the  march  of 
events  is  resumed  when  Elisha  goes  to  Damascus, 


I40    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

that  a  "  man  of  God  "  may  be  an  accomplice  In 
the  subtle  assassination  that  makes  Hazael  King 
of  Syria.  Why  a  prophet  should  practise  duplic- 
ity In  such  a  service  to  the  Lord  we  need  not  In- 
quire. It  Illustrates  the  manner  of  the  time. 
Had  not  Elijah  long  ago  been  commissioned  at 
Mount  Horeb  to  anoint  Hazael  king  of  Syria  and 
to  anoint  Jehu  king  over  Israel?  There  was  no 
anointing  of  the  Syrian  by  a  prophet  of  Israel  but 
Jehu's  time  was  now  at  hand. 

In  all  this  graphic  material  "  the  Lord  "  seems 
to  have  been  on  the  side  of  Israel  as  against 
Syria,  and  In  the  meantime  little  attention  has 
been  given  to  Judah,  though  Jehoshaphat  Is  dead 
and  the  eight  year  reign  of  his  son  Jehoram  must 
also  be  over.  Here  the  unskilful  compiler,  before 
Introducing  the  account  of  Jehu's  exploits,  lets  us 
know  that  Jehoram  or  Joram  has  reigned  contem- 
poraneously with  the  monarch  of  the  same  name 
at  Samaria,  that  he  married  a  daughter  of  Ahab 
of  Israel  and  did  evil  In  the  sight  of  the  Lord, 
though  he  was  permitted  to  suppress  a  revolt  at 
Edom,  and  that  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Ahaziah  whose  reign  was  only  for  one  year,  and 
he  also  did  evil.  This  new  King  of  Judah  was 
brother-in-law  of  Joram  of  Israel  and  joined  him 
in  war  against  the  new  King  of  Syria  at  the  great 
battleground  of  Ramoth-GIlead.  The  defeat  and 
mortal  wounding  of  Joram  is  made  the  preliminary 
to  the  anointing  under  the  direction  of  Ellsha  of 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  141 

Jehu,  the  wholesale  assassin  who  was  commissioned 
by  the  Lord  from  the  time  of  Elijah  to  avenge 
upon  the  house  of  Ahab  the  blood  of  the  prophets. 
He  makes  thorough  work  of  it.  Jezebel  is  thrown 
to  the  dogs,  the  seventy  sons  of  Ahab  and  "  all 
his  great  men,  all  his  familiar  friends  and  his 
priests,"  are  slaughtered,  and  there  is  general  mas- 
sacre of  the  prophets  and  worshippers  of  Baal. 
*'  Thus,"  quoth  the  devout  Deuteronomist,  "  Jehu 
destroyed  Baal  out  of  Israel,"  and  the  Lord  com- 
mended him  for  doing  unto  the  house  of  Ahab 
"  according  to  all  that  is  in  mine  heart,"  and  prom- 
ised him  the  iniquitous  throne  at  Samaria  unto  the 
fourth  generation  of  his  sons.  It  just  so  happened 
that  the  dynasty  of  Jehu  had  lasted  that  long  when 
this  promise  was  put  in  the  mouth  of  the  Lord 
as  spoken  directly  to  the  bloody  instrument  of  his 
vengeance. 

It  is  only  of  this  slaughterous  service  at  the 
beginning  of  his  reign  that  we  are  told,  though 
Jehu  w^as  king  at  Samaria  twenty-eight  years. 
Things  were  hardly  better  at  Jerusalem  in  those 
days,  either  in  matters  of  worship  or  of  politics. 
Jehu  had  dispatched  Ahaziah  of  Judah  along  with 
Joram  of  Israel,  and  his  mother  Athaliah,  the 
daughter  of  Ahab,  had  destroyed  all  the  rest  of 
the  family  and  seized  the  reins  of  Government, 
showing  that  she  had  inherited  the  spirit  of  Jeze- 
bel. The  sister  of  Ahaziah,  presumably  a  daugh- 
ter  of  the   queen  mother,   had,   however,   stolen 


142     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

and  hidden  In  the  house  of  "  the  Lord ''  one  from 
among  the  king's  sons — how  many  he  had  at  the 
age  of  twenty-three  does  not  appear — and  six  years 
later  the  throne  of  David  was  transferred  by  assas- 
sination, but  not  out  of  his  family.  The  priest 
Jehoiada  and  his  confederates  placed  the  child 
Joash  on  that  royal  seat,  and  made  a  covenant 
between  the  Lord  and  him  and  his  people,  that 
they  should  be  the  Lord's  people.  So  the  rule  and 
worship  of  Baal  was  destroyed  at  Jerusalem  and 
Incidentally  his  priest  was  put  to  death.  Joash 
ruled  forty  years  under  the  guidance  of  Jehoiada 
and  did  that  which  was  right  In  the  eyes  of  the 
Lord,  but  those  pestilent  "  high  places  "  remained. 
Notwithstanding  his  virtuous  reign  and  the  fact 
that,  in  spite  of  his  priestly  *'  graft,"  he  succeeded 
in  raising  money  for  the  repair  of  the  temple,  he 
was  forced  to  strip  It  of  Its  treasures  and  Its  "  hal- 
lowed things  "  to  buy  off  the  King  of  Syria  from 
attacking  his  capital,  and  was  himself  a  victim  of 
assassination.  That  zealous  theocratic  compiler 
who  passed  judgment  upon  the  successive  kings  of 
both  realms  did  not  eliminate  from  his  material 
these  facts,  though  they  seemed  to  contradict  his 
doctrine. 

Events  were  moving  toward  the  doom  of  Israel, 
for  though  It  prevailed  In  Its  conflicts  with  Syria 
and  with  Judah,  It  was  destined  to  encounter  the 
onslaught  of  the  irresistible  empire  of  the  East. 
The  effort  to  run  the  accounts  of  the  two  king- 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  143 

doms  on  parallel  lines  from  mixed  material  makes 
the  narrative  disjointed  and  confused,  but  It  ap- 
pears that  the  reign  of  Jehu's  son  was  cut  short 
by  Hazael  of  Syria,  who  conquered  and  took  sev- 
eral of  his  cities,  but  his  grandson  Jehoash,  or 
Joash,  defeated  Hazael's  successor  and  recovered 
the  cities.  Moreover,  he  scorned  the  proffered 
aid  of  Amazlah  of  Judah,  and,  when  attacked  by 
him,  he  broke  down  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  and 
plundered  the  house  of  the  Lord  and  the  king's 
house,  and  carried  their  treasures  to  Samaria. 
Nevertheless,  he  did  evil  In  the  sight  of  the  Lord 
and  Amazlah  did  that  which  was  right,  but  Joash 
died  in  peace  after  his  victories  and  left  a  son 
who  had  a  victorious  reign  of  forty-one  years, 
while  the  King  of  Judah  had  to  flee  from  a  con- 
spiracy at  Jerusalem  and  was  assassinated  at 
Lachlsh.  His  son  Azarlah  or  Uzzlah,  was  made 
king  In  his  stead;  and,  though  he  reigned  fifty- 
two  years,  we  are  told  nothing  about  him  except 
that  he  did  that  which  was  right  and  was  smitten 
with  leprosy. 

The  four  generations  of  the  sons  of  Jehu  ended 
with  Zecharlah,  who  was  assassinated  after  a  reign 
of  six  months.  Shallum,  the  assassin,  held  the 
throne  one  month  and  In  his  turn  became  the  vic- 
tim of  Menahem,  who  reigned  ten  years  and  suc- 
ceeded in  leaving  the  power  in  the  hands  of  a 
son,  Pekahiah.  The  latter  was  assassinated  in  two 
years  and  Pekah  seized  the  realm  in  the  last  year 


144    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

of  Azarlah  of  Judah.  He  held  It  twenty  years, 
but  was  assassinated  by  his  successor  the  last  of 
the  Kings  of  Israel.  It  was  in  the  time  of 
Menahem  that  Assyria  first  laid  its  hand  upon 
Samaria.  "  Pul,"  who  became  King  of  Assyria 
as  Tiglath-Pileser,  came  and  made  a  vassal  of 
Menahem  and  exacted  a  heavy  tribute,  which 
continued  until  Hoshea,  the  last  King  of  Israel, 
revolted  and  sought  support  from  Egypt,  which 
brought  the  destined  destruction  upon  Israel.  In 
the  reign  of  Pekah  the  same  Assyrian  king  had 
occasion  to  exhibit  his  power  In  those  parts,  but 
when  Hoshea  attempted  his  revolt  it  was  Shal- 
maneser  that  came  to  besiege  Samaria  and  destroy 
the  kingdom,  on  account  of  that  original  sin  of 
Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat  and  the  multiplied 
sins  of  his  successors.  It  was  Sargon,  however, 
who  completed  the  work. 

There  Is  a  characteristic  note  of  the  death  of 
Elisha  in  the  course  of  the  narrative,  in  which 
he  Is  made  to  predict  the  victories  of  Joash  of 
Israel  over  Syria,  and  the  failure  utterly  to  sub- 
jugate that  nation,  and  his  miraculous  power  is 
displayed  even  after  his  death  by  the  revival,  as 
soon  as  It  touched  his  "  bones,"  of  a  corpse  that 
was  thrown  Into  his  sepulchre. 

But  In  this  Interval  before  the  destruction  of 
Samaria  occurs  an  episode  In  the  relation  of  Israel 
and  Judah  which  Is  of  special  Interest  as  the  first 
occasion   for  the   appearance   of  the   greatest  of 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  145 

Hebrew  prophets.  After  the  death  of  Jotham  the 
son  of  Azariah,  his  son  Ahaz  became  king,  while 
Pekah  was  king  at  Samaria.  Now  Ahaz  is  said 
not  to  have  done  that  which  was  right  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Lord,  like  David,  but  to  have  indulged 
in  the  abominations  of  the  heathen.  It  was  hardly 
for  that  reason  that  Rezin  of  Syria  and  Pekah  of 
Israel  made  their  attack  upon  Jerusalem,  which 
was  defeated  only  because  Ahaz  appealed  to  Tig- 
lath-Pileser  and  induced  him  with  treasures  of  gold 
and  silver  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  and  in  the 
king's  house,  to  capture  Damascus.  This  made 
Judah  a  vassal  of  Assyria,  but  it  saved  Jerusalem 
for  the  time  being.  We  shall  find  this  salvation 
credited  to  the  Lord  through  a  prophecy  of  Isaiah 
when  we  consider  more  fully  the  oracles  attributed 
to  that  theocratic  champion,  but  the  Assyrian  king 
must  be  made  the  Instrument. 

The  destruction  of  Samaria  and  the  dispersion 
of  Israel  came  afterwards.  In  the  reign  of  Heze- 
klah  of  Judah,  and  It  gave  occasion  for  the  com- 
piler of  these  narratives, — who  wrote  before 
Jerusalem  suffered  the  same  fate  as  Samaria,  at 
the  hands  of  the  King  of  Babylon,  and  who 
still  hoped  for  the  salvation  of  Judah, — and 
for  the  final  redactor,  who  wrote  In  the  time  of 
the  exile  and  knew  the  fate  that  had  over- 
taken Judah,  as  well  as  Israel,  to  descant  upon  the 
causes  of  this  calamity  In  their  several  ways. 
Their   reflections   are   interwoven   and   added  to, 


146     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

but  it  is  easy  to  distinguish  those  which  preceded 
the  fall  of  Jerusalem  from  those  which  followed  it. 

The  fate  of  the  northern  kingdom  had  for  a 
time  a  potent  influence  upon  the  course  of  the  one 
that  remained,  and  furnished  much  inspiration  for 
the  prophets  whose  utterances  have  come  down  to 
us.  Hezekiah,  the  son  of  the  sinful  Ahaz,  was 
submissive  to  the  influence  of  Isaiah,  the  prophet, 
and  he  "  did  that  which  was  right  in  the  eyes  of 
the  Lord  according  to  all  that  David  his  father 
had  done " ;  and  again  the  symbols  of  heathen 
worship  were  broken  up,  not  only  at  Jerusalem, 
but  in  the  "  high  places."  Among  other  things 
the  king  is  said  to  have  broken  up  the  brazen  ser- 
pent that  Moses  made,  to  which  the  children  of 
Israel  had  burnt  incense  until  that  time.  He  ven- 
tured to  revolt  against  the  sovereignty  of  Assyria, 
to  which  his  father  had  submitted  as  a  means  of 
rescue  from  Israel  and  Syria,  and  this  brought 
Sennacherib,  who  was  ravaging  the  neighbouring 
country,  down  upon  his  capital. 

There  are  two  parallel  accounts,  or  fragments 
of  such,  from  different  sources,  awkwardly  joined 
together  by  the  compiler  of  the  narrative,  of  the 
threat  which  Sennacherib  sent  to  Hezekiah  when 
he  rashly  sought  the  aid  of  Egypt,  the  chief  enemy 
of  Assyria,  In  his  revolt  against  the  empire  of  which 
he  was  a  vassal.  It  is  in  strict  accordance  with 
the  manner  of  the  writer  who  wrought  the  narra- 
tive from  the  material  under  his  hand  and  modified 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  147 

It  to  suit  his  purpose,  that  the  result  of  this  menace 
was  foretold  by  a  prophet  of  "  the  Lord,"  who 
happens  In  this  case  to  be  one  of  those  whose  pro- 
ductions In  mutilated  and  disordered  shape  have 
come  down  to  us.  The  emissaries  of  Sennacherib 
had  defied  the  God  of  Judah  and  reminded  his 
followers  of  the  fate  of  other  places  that  had 
relied  upon  their  gods.  They  even  declared  In  the 
name  of  their  master  that  It  was  at  the  command 
of  "  the  Lord  "  that  he  came  up  against  this  land 
to  destroy  It. 

According  to  one  of  the  two  accounts  which  arc 
blended  In  the  composition,  Hezeklah  In  his  alarm 
at  the  menace  from  the  King  of  Assyria  sent  to 
Isaiah,  appealing  to  him  to  lift  up  his  prayer  "  for 
the  remnant  that  Is  left."  The  prophet  sent  back 
a  message  to  the  king  In  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
not  to  be  afraid  of  the  words,  "  wherewith  the 
servants  of  the  King  of  Assyria  have  blasphemed 
me,"  saying  also,  ''  Behold  I  will  put  a  spirit  In 
him,  and  he  shall  hear  a  rumour  and  shall  return 
to  his  own  land,  and  I  will  cause  him  to  fall  by 
the  sword  In  his  own  land."  According  to  the 
other  account  Hezeklah  went  up  to  the  house  of 
the  Lord  and  lifted  up  a  prayer  on  his  own  account, 
the  words  of  which  are  duly  set  down,  and  the 
prophet  being  Instinctively  aware  of  this,  sent  to 
him  saying,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  whereas  thou 
hast  prayed  to  me  against  Sennacherib,  King  of 
Assyria,  I  have  heard  thee."     Then  is  introduced 


148     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

from  some  source,  genuine  or  otherwise,  one  of 
the  eloquent  and  poetical  oracles  of  Isaiah  against 
the  King  of  Assyria,  and  appended  thereto  is  the 
promise  of  the  Lord  that  he  will  defend  and  save 
Jerusalem  for  his  own  sake  and  for  the  sake  of 
David  his  servant.  "  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the 
night  that  the  angel  of  the  Lord  went  forth  and 
smote  in  the  camp  of  the  Assyrians  an  hundred 
and  four  score  and  five  thousand;  and  when  men 
arose  early  In  the  morning,  behold,  they  were  all 
dead  corpses/'  And  it  Is  added  from  a  different 
source  that  Sennacherib  departed  and  dwelt  in 
Nineveh ;  and,  as  he  was  worshipping  In  the  house 
of  NIsroch  his  god,  Adrammelech  and  Sharezer 
smote  him  with  the  sword  and  his  son  Esar-haddon 
reigned  In  his  stead. 

All  this,  Including  the  prophecies,  was  written 
down  long  after  the  event.  The  historical  fact  Is 
that  Sennacherib's  army  was  not  destroyed  near 
Jerusalem,  but  while  It  was  laying  waste  the  coun- 
try around  and  preparing  to  attack  the  city,  an 
army  of  Egyptians  and  Ethiopians  was  on  its  trail 
under  Tirhaka,  and  It  was  drawn  away  and  badly 
cut  up  near  the  borders  of  Egypt.  The  Assyrian 
monarch  did  then  return  to  his  capital,  but  he  after- 
wards suppressed  the  rebellion  of  Babylon,  and  it 
was  twenty  years  after  he  was  diverted  from  de- 
stroying Jerusalem  that  he  was  murdered  by  his 
sons,  one  of  whom  succeeded  him. 

It  is  probably  a  fact  that  Hezekiah  had  a  serious 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  149 

illness  from  which  he  recovered,  living  some  years 
afterwards,  no  uncommon  experience.  The  writer 
who  was  so  zealous  in  attributing  everything  to 
"  the  Lord  "  and  communicating  the  Lord's  pur- 
poses through  his  prophets,  makes  Isaiah  first  tell 
the  king  to  set  his  house  in  order  for  he  would 
die  and  not  live;  and  then,  after  the  king  had 
implored  the  Lord  to  remember  how  he  had  walked 
before  him  in  truth  and  with  a  perfect  heart  and 
had  done  that  which  was  good  in  his  sight,  the 
word  of  the  Lord  came  to  the  prophet  to  assure 
the  prince  of  his  people  that  he  had  heard  his 
prayer  and  would  heal  him.  The  king  was  anx- 
ious to  be  assured  by  a  sign,  and  the  shadow  was 
made  miraculously  to  turn  back  ten  steps  on  the 
dial  of  Ahaz. 

The  only  other  incident  told  of  Hezekiah  and 
the  prophet  is  the  coming  of  messengers  from 
*'  Berodach-Baladan,"  properly  Merodach-Bala- 
dan,  King  of  Babylon,  with  presents  for  the  King 
of  Judah,  who  showed  them  all  the  treasures  of 
the  temple  and  the  palace,  for  which  the  prophet 
rebuked  him  and  told  him  that  the  day  would 
come  when  all  that  he  and  his  fathers  had  laid  up 
in  store  would  be  carried  away  to  Babylon,  and 
his  descendants  would  be  made  captives  in  the  pal- 
ace of  its  king.  Hezekiah  was  content,  as  it  was 
not  to  come  in  his  day.  Undoubtedly  this  was 
written  by  the  reviser  of  these  narratives  after 
the  event  had  happened. 


ISO    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

Though  Hezeklah  was  said  to  have  done  "  that 
which  was  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  according 
to  all  that  David  his  father  had  done,"  he  had  a 
troublous  reign  and  remained  a  vassal  of  Assyria, 
while  his  wicked  son  Manasseh,  who  came  to  the 
throne  at  the  age  of  twelve,  reigned  fifty-five  years 
in  peace,  so  far  as  this  account  tells  anything  about 
him.  All  that  it  does  tell  is  of  his  iniquities  and 
abominations,  in  restoring  all  forms  of  heathen 
worship  and  practice,  even  in  the  temple  of  the 
Lord  as  well  as  in  the  restored  "  high  places,"  and 
shedding  innocent  blood  until  he  "  filled  Jerusalem 
from  one  end  to  another."  It  is  a  dismal  picture 
and  represents  a  state  of  things  on  Mount  Zion  as 
dark  and  bloody  as  ever  prevailed  on  the  hill  of 
Samaria.  The  final  redactor,  writing  in  the  midst 
of  the  exile,  makes  this  the  occasion  of  a  threat  of 
the  Lord,  by  *'  his  servants  the  prophets,"  none 
of  whom  are  named  in  the  reign  of  Manasseh 
if  any  were  allowed  to  live,  that  he  would  "  bring 
such  evil  upon  Jerusalem  and  Judah  that  whoso- 
ever heareth  of  it,  both  his  ears  shall  tingle."  He 
would  "  wipe  Jerusalem  as  a  man  wipeth  a  dish, 
wiping  it  and  turning  it  upside  down";  and  he 
would  cast  off  his  "  inheritance,"  deliver  them  into 
the  hands  of  their  enemies  and  make  them  "  a  prey 
and  a  spoil  of  their  enemies."  No  hope  of  restora- 
tion or  a  saving  remnant  is  held  out. 

The  dreadful  state  of  things  at  Jerusalem  con- 
tinued for  two  years  under  Manasseh's  son  Amon, 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  151 

when  his  servants  conspired  against  him  and  put 
him  to  death  In  his  own  house;  but  ''  the  people  " 
slew  those  who  conspired  against  him  and  made 
his  son  Joslah  king.  He  was  only  eight  years  old, 
but  his  father  Is  said  to  have  been  only  twenty- 
four  at  his  death.  Joslah,  we  are  told,  did  that 
which  was  right  In  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  and  walked 
In  all  the  way  of  David,  turning  aside  neither  to 
the  right  nor  to  the  left;  but  we  are  Informed  of 
nothing  that  he  did  until,  in  the  eighteenth  year 
of  his  reign,  the  priest  Hilkiah  found  the  book  of 
the  law  In  the  house  of  the  Lord  when  preparations 
were  making  to  repair  Its  "  breaches."  It  was  In 
this  Interval  that  the  voice  of  Jeremiah  was  first 
lifted  up,  lamenting  the  recreancy,  backsliding  and 
wickedness  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  and  calling 
them  to  repentance  and  obedience  to  the  Lord,  as 
their  only  hope  of  salvation. 

This  discovery  of  the  "  book  of  the  law  "  and 
the  reforms  In  worship  to  which  It  led,  were  the 
great  event  of  Joslah's  reign,  the  last  before  the 
fate  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  was  sealed,  as  that 
of  Israel  and  Samaria  had  been  sealed  just  a  hun- 
dred years  before  the  discovery  was  made.  There 
Is  no  doubt  that  this  "  book  of  the  law  "  was  that 
which  was  afterwards  extended,  with  a  prelude  of 
discourses  by  Moses  and  additions  to  the  com- 
mands and  ordinances,  to  form  the  Book  of 
Deuteronomy.  When  It  was  read  to  Joslah  he 
was  filled  with  alarm  and  sent  to  "  Inquire  of  the 


152     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

Lord  "  from  the  prophetess  Huldah,  apparently 
the  only  recognised  survivor  of  the  prophets  in 
Jerusalem.  The  zealous  redactor  of  the  exile,  who 
knew  what  had  happened,  put  in  her  mouth  a  dire- 
ful prediction  of  what  was  then  to  come,  with  the 
promise  that  because  the  king's  heart  was  tender 
and  he  had  humbled  himself  and  rent  his  clothes 
and  wept,  he  should  be  gathered  to  his  fathers  in 
peace  and  should  not  see  all  the  evil  that  the  Lord 
would  "  bring  upon  this  place."  Perhaps  the 
writer  overlooked  the  fact  that  in  the  account  un- 
der his  hand  Josiah  was  killed  at  Megiddo  when 
he  had  the  presumption  to  try  to  intercept  the 
Egyptian  army  on  its  way  to  attack  Assyria. 

But,  after  the  consulting  of  the  oracle  in  the 
person  of  Huldah,  the  king  is  represented  as  mak- 
ing a  clean  sweep  of  the  iniquitous  worship  and  its 
symbols  and  of  various  "  abominations  "  that  had 
invaded  Mount  Zion  in  the  time  of  his  grand- 
father, even  to  the  "  houses  of  the  Sodomites  in 
the  house  of  the  Lord."  It  seems,  according  to 
this  account,  that  there  had  even  been  sacrifices  of 
children  in  the  valley  of  the  sons  of  Hinnom,  which 
was  turned  into  "  Tophet  "  for  the  burning  of 
idols  and  asherim  and  other  refuse,  and  that  some 
of  the  heathenish  high  places  of  Solomon  had  still 
remained  before  Jerusalem.  A  late  addition  was 
made  to  the  story  to  verify  the  prophecy  of  the 
man  of  God  in  the  time  of  Jeroboam,  that  upon 
the  altar  which  he  had  raised  at  Bethel  a  child  of- 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  153 

the  house  of  David,  Joslah  by  name,  should  sacri- 
fice the  priests  of  the  high  places  and  should  burn 
men's  bones.  The  king  is  also  made  to  save  the 
sepulchre  In  which  the  "  man  of  God  "  from  Judah 
and  the  old  prophet  of  Bethel  were  buried  to- 
gether. Then  such  a  passover  was  kept  in  Jerusa- 
lem as  was  never  known  before,  but  the  redactor, 
whose  mind  was  overwhelmed  with  the  subsequent 
disasters,  could  not  refrain  from  Interjecting  that, 
"  notwithstanding,  the  Lord  turned  not  from  the 
fierceness  of  his  great  wrath,  wherewith  his  anger 
was  kindled  against  Judah,  because  of  all  the  prov- 
ocations that  Manasseh  had  provoked  him  withal," 
but  declared  that  he  would  remove  Judah  out  of 
his  sight  as  he  had  removed  Israel,  and  cast  oii 
the  city  which  he  had  chosen  to  put  his  name 
there.  Neither  did  he  omit  the  authentic  state- 
ment that  Joslah  was  slain  by  Pharaoh-Necoh  on 
his  way  "  up  against  "  the  King  of  Assyria  and 
was  carried  dead  in  his  chariot  to  be  buried  in 
his  own  sepulchre. 

His  son  Jehoahaz  did  not  have  much  time  for 
the  evil  that  he  did  In  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  for 
this  same  "  Pharaoh-Necoh  "  captured  him  within 
three  months  and  sent  him  to  Egypt  to  die,  putting 
his  brother  Eliakim  In  his  place,  but  with  the  name 
of  Jeholakim,  and  exacting  a  heavy  tribute  from 
the  land.  Thus  Judah  and  Jerusalem  became  an 
unfortunate  football  between  the  great  powers  of 
the  Euphrates  and  the  Nile,  which  were  engaged 


154    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

In  a  gigantic  struggle  for  supremacy.  Babylon 
under  Nabopolassar,  with  the  aid  of  Cyaxares  of 
Media,  subjugated  the  kingdom  of  Assyria,  and 
his  son  Nebuchadrezzar  overwhelmingly  defeated 
Necho  at  Carchemish,  thus  transferring  the  vas- 
salage of  Jeholakim  from  Egypt  to  Babylon. 
Against  the  protests  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah  this 
king  rebelled  and  brought  the  wrath  of  Babylon 
upon  Jerusalem,  and  Judah  was  devastated  by  the 
army  of  Nebuchadrezzar.  The  King  of  Egypt 
*'  came  no  more  into  the  land  "  for  the  King  of 
Babylon  "  had  taken,  from  the  brook  of  Egypt 
unto  the  river  Euphrates,  all  that  pertained  to 
the  King  of  Egypt." 

Jeholakim  "  slept  with  his  fathers  "  and  his  son 
Jehoiachin  began  to  reign,  but  the  latter  had  also 
only  three  months  in  which  to  do  evil  In  the  sight 
of  the  Lord,  for  Nebuchadrezzar  was  now  besieg- 
ing Jerusalem  and  the  hapless  king  with  his  mother 
and  his  servants  "  went  out  "  to  him  and  they  were 
carried  away  to  Babylon  with  "  all  the  princes  and 
all  the  mighty  men  of  valour,  even  ten  thousand 
captives,  and  all  the  craftsmen  and  the  smiths,'* 
leaving  only  "  the  poorest  sort  of  the  people  of  the 
land."  This  was  in  the  year  597  B.  C,  but  eleven 
years  remained  yet  before  the  final  "  captivity  " 
and  the  destruction  of  Jerusalent.  Nebuchadrez- 
zar set  another  of  Josiah's  sons  on  the  throne,  Mat- 
tanlah,  to  whom  he  gave  the  name  Zedekiah.  We 
have  passed  the  period  of  the  first  compiler  of 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  155 

the  Books  of  Kings  and  what  remains  Is  from  the 
hand  of  the  redactor  In  the  exile.  Zedekiah  was 
not  obedient  to  the  voice  of  the  great  prophet 
Jeremiah  and  he  had  the  presumption  to  rebel 
against  the  King  of  Babylon,  of  which  the  imme- 
diate result  was  to  bring  back  the  army  of  Nebu- 
chadrezzar, and  there  was  a  siege  that  reduced 
Jerusalem  to  sore  famine  and  to  final  destruction. 
The  king  was  captured  in  an  attempt  to  escape  to 
Jericho,  his  sons  were  slain,  his  eyes  were  put  out, 
and  he  was  carried  captive  to  Babylon.  The  walls 
of  Zion  were  broken  down,  the  temple  was  stripped 
of  everything  of  value  and  left  In  ruins,  and  there 
was  another  wholesale  deportation  after  the  man- 
ner of  Chaldaean  conquests.  There  was  little  of 
such  colonising  from  the  East  as  was  made  by  the 
Assyrians  In  the  more  attractive  territory  of  the 
North,  but  Judah  and  Jerusalem  were  left  to  deso- 
lation and  "  astonishment,"  with  a  governor  who 
was  speedily  assassinated,  the  conspirators  and 
their  followers  then  fleeing  to  Egypt  and  taking 
the  prophet  Jeremiah  with  them  by  force.  The 
result  was  that  while  the  "  ten  tribes  of  Israel  " 
were  dispersed  and  lost,  the  remnant  of  Judah  re- 
turned In  half  a  century,  when  Cyrus  of  Persia 
destroyed  Babylon,  and  In  a  feeble  attempt  to  re- 
build Jerusalem  built  up  Judaism. 

The  purpose  of  this  long  chapter  has  not  been 
to  rehearse  the  events  of  the  two  kingdoms,  but 
to  show  that  this  writing  Is  not  and  was  not  in- 


156     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

tended  to  be  history,  or  a  record  of  facts.  In  the 
hands  of  those  who  composed  it  from  rude  material 
of  diverse  origin,  and  put  it  in  its  final  form,  its 
purpose  was  to  inculcate  and  impress  a  theory,  or 
a  doctrine,  which  is  the  burden  of  the  whole  epic 
as  finally  rounded  out.  In  its  higher  development 
this  was  the  doctrine  that  the  God  of  Israel,  orig- 
inally a  tribal  deity  with  his  abode  in  the  dismal 
region  of  Mount  Sinai,  was  the  divine  power  over 
all  the  nations,  but  Israel  was  his  own  peculiar 
people  and  Judah  became  his  special  care  when 
the  other  tribes  broke  away  and  formed  a  separate 
kingdom,  and  proved  recreant  to  his  worship  and 
his  law.  It  was  for  this  that  he  brought  calamities 
upon  them  and  finally  destroyed  their  kingdom 
and  removed  them  from  his  sight.  Whatever 
Judah  suffered  was  due  to  disobedience  and  infidel- 
ity to  him,  and  trust  in  him  would  have  saved  it. 
Syria  or  Egypt,  Assyria  or  Babylon,  were  only 
instruments  in  his  hands  for  punishing  his  people 
when  they  would  not  listen  to  his  voice,  as  con- 
veyed by  the  prophets  who  spoke  in  his  name  and 
by  his  inspiration. 

This  was  the  belief  of  the  prophets  themselves, 
and  this  was  the  belief  of  those  who  preserved 
their  words,  either  in  their  original  form  or  in  a 
modified  form,  or  wrote  down  what  this  belief 
induced  them  to  think  must  have  been  said.  It 
was  the  belief  of  all  those  who  during  the  exile 
and  after  the  return  wrought  over  the  mass  of 


THE  TWO  KINGDOMS  157 

writings  that  had  been  saved  from  the  time  of 
the  kingdoms,  first  in  the  form  of  "  the  law,"  then 
in  the  "  prophets,"  which  included  the  legendary 
and  theocratic  records  from  the  conquest  of  Canaan 
to  the  "  carrying  away  into  captivity,"  and  finally 
In  the  addition  of  various  "  writings  "  deemed  to 
be  "  holy."  The  one  dominating  idea  at  last  was 
that  there  was  no  god  but  Israel's  God,  and  he 
would  yet  save  a  purified  remnant  of  his  own  be- 
loved people,  and  bring  all  other  nations,  which 
he  had  used  for  their  affliction  and  their  discipline, 
into  subjection  to  them,  and  would  build  up  a 
glorified  kingdom  in  the  future  with  the  house  of 
David  restored.  This  was  a  faith  that  survived 
the  destruction  of  the  two  kingdoms  and  even  the 
failure  to  rebuild  that  of  Judah  after  the  second 
great  deliverance. 


VIII 

PROPHETS  OF  THE  KINGDOMS 

The  literary  prophets  of  Israel,  or  those  whose 
utterances,  oral  or  written,  have  come  down  to  us 
as  part  of  the  great  epic  of  their  race,  may  be 
said  to  have  developed  out  of  a  class  of  diviners 
or  soothsayers,  such  as  all  primitive  nations  and 
religions  have  had.  In  the  earliest  writings  we 
have  glimpses  of  those  priests,  or  levis,  who  con- 
sulted Yahweh  by  means  of  a  mechanism  called 
the  ephod,  adorned  with  a  symbolical  image  in  the 
form  of  a  calf  or  bull,  and  who  received  answers 
by  urim  and  thummim.  These  implements  are 
represented  as  being  used  not  only  in  the  days  of 
tbfc  "'  Judges,"  but  in  the  time  of  Saul  and  David. 
More  directly  the  "  word  of  God  "  was  said  to 
have  been  imparted  by  an  angel  of  the  Lord,  a 
sort  of  minor  deity  acting  as  a  messenger  or  spokes- 
man. Later  this  place  seems  to  have  been  taken 
by  a  human  being  spoken  of  as  a  "  man  of  God," 
supposed  to  be  inspired  for  his  mission.  The  spirit 
of  the  Lord  was  also  said  to  come  upon  those 
who  were  acting  in  his  behalf,  as  well  as  those 
who  spoke  for  him,  even  such  rough  agents  of 
his  will  as  Gideon,  Jephthah  and  Samson. 

158 


PROPHETS  OF  THE  KINGDOMS     159 

There  were  those  who  were  consulted  as  oracles 
or  seers  to  whom  clairvoyant  powers  appear  to 
have  been  Imputed,  like  Deborah  under  her  palm 
tree  between  Ramah  and  Bethel,  and  Samuel  at 
his  dwelling  place  in  Ramah,  to  whom  it  was  said 
that  the  Lord  revealed  the  fact  that  Saul  was 
coming  to  Inquire  after  stray  asses.  A  late  editor 
of  the  account  takes  occasion  to  note  that  he  that 
was  called  a  prophet  In  his  day  had  been  before- 
time  called  a  seer.  There  were  also  said  to  be  in 
the  time  of  Samuel  schools  or  conventicles  in 
which  the  neophytes  were  called  "  sons  of 
prophets,"  and  the  verb  used  for  their  ''  prophe- 
sying "  signified  crying  out  In  ecstatic  fashion, 
something  like  the  "  speaking  with  tongues  "  of  a 
much  later  time.  It  Is  evident  that  they  were 
wont  to  work  themselves  Into  a  religious  frenzy, 
which  sometimes  Infected  the  bystanders.  It  was 
this  that  led  to  the  proverbial  query  "  Is  Saul  also 
among  the  prophets?" 

"  Prophet  "  came  to  mean  one  who  spoke  or 
acted  In  the  name  of  "  the  Lord  "  (Yahweh),  and 
Samuel  In  anointing  and  guiding  the  first  king  of 
Israel  Is  the  earliest  who  appears  distinctly  in  that 
role.  Writers  of  a  time  long  after  applied  the 
term  to  Abraham  and  Moses,  but  its  significance 
Is  plainly  brought  out  where  It  Is  said  that  the 
Lord  told  Moses,  when  he  pleaded  that  he  was  not 
eloquent,  that  Aaron  should  be  to  him  Instead  of 
a  mouth  and  should  be  his   "  prophet."     After 


i6o    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

David  became  king,  Nathan  appears  as  a  prophet 
to  reveal  to  him  the  purposes  of  the  Lord  and  to 
rebuke  him  in  the  case  of  the  wrong  done  to 
Uriah  the  Hittite.  We  hear  of  no  prophet  in  the 
time  of  Solomon  until  the  Ephraimite  rebellion, 
which,  according  to  the  doctrine  developed  later, 
must  be  accounted  for  as  a  retribution  for  the  sins 
of  that  king  in  setting  up  the  worship  of  heathen 
gods  in  his  latter  days,  and  must  have  been  an- 
nounced beforehand  in  the  name  of  God.  For 
that  purpose  Ahijah  appears,  whose  abode  was 
said  to  be  at  the  old  sanctuary  of  Shiloh. 

The  symbolical  action  of  this  prophet  in  rending 
his  new  garment  Into  twelve  pieces  and  giving  ten 
of  them  to  Jeroboam  was  a  kind  of  performance 
sometimes  credited  to  later  prophets,  as  a  means 
of  giving  emphasis  or  illustration  to  their  mes- 
sages. These  things  may  not  have  been  actually 
done,  for  there  was  much  use  of  figurative  lan- 
guage and  poetical  Imagery,  not  only  by  those  who 
told  of  the  words  and  deeds  of  prophets,  but  In 
what  purport  to  be  their  own  statements.  Their 
symbolism  like  their  visions,  was  usually  assumed 
for  effect.  It  may  be  that  at  the  time  of  the  dis- 
astrous expedition  of  Ahab  and  Jehoshaphat 
against  the  Syrians  at  Ramoth-GIlead,  Zedeklah 
made  him  horns  of  Iron  to  show  how  the  kings 
would  punish  the  enemy  until  he  was  "  consumed," 
but  it  Is  hardly  more  likely  than  that  Micaiah  saw 
the  visions  that  he  described.     It  Is  not  to  be  sup- 


PROPHETS  OF  THE  KINGDOMS     i6i 

posed  that  Amos  actually  saw  the  basket  of  summer 
fruit  which  he  said  the  Lord  God  showed  him,  or 
that  he  really  saw  the  Lord  standing  upon  the 
altar  telling  him  to  smite  the  lintel  of  the  door 
that  the  posts  may  shake.  When  Isaiah  tells  how 
his  lips  were  purged  by  a  live  coal  taken  from  the 
altar  by  a  seraph  he  is  not  relating  a  matter  of 
fact,  and  it  may  be  doubted  whether  he  walked 
naked  and  barefoot  three  years  "  for  a  sign  and 
a  wonder  upon  Egypt  and  upon  Ethiopia."  When 
he  spoke  of  a  young  woman  having  a  child  to  be 
named  ''  God  with  us  "  to  illustrate  the  time  within 
which  Judah  would  be  relieved  from  the  attack  of 
Israel  and  Syria,  or  of  naming  a  child  of  his  own 
to  symbolise  the  approaching  destruction  of 
Damascus  by  Assyria,  he  was  not  telling  family 
history  or  prefiguring  remote  events. 

A  number  of  symbolical  acts  were  imputed  to 
Jeremiah,  such  as  putting  on  a  yoke  to  represent 
the  coming  subjugation  of  his  people  and  shatter- 
ing a  potter's  earthen  vessel  to  illustrate  how  the 
Lord  would  smash  Jerusalem,  but  it  does  not  fol- 
low that  he  literally  did  these  things.  Certainly, 
when  he  said  that  In  obedience  to  the  word  of 
the  Lord  he  got  a  linen  girdle  and  took  it  to 
Euphrates  and  hid  It  In  a  hole  of  the  rock,  and 
after  many  days  went  again  and  found  it  marred 
and  *'  profitable  for  nothing,"  to  show  how  the 
pride  of  Judah  was  to  be  marred  and  its  people  to 
be   carried  away   captive   to   the   Euphrates,   the 


1 62    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

statement  ascribed  to  him  was  not  meant  to  be 
understood  as  relating  a  fact.  Very  likely  the 
narrative  of  buying  a  field  from  his  uncle  at 
Anathoth  as  a  refuge  in  anticipation  of  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem  was  a  bit  of  illustrative 
fiction  to  impress  the  belief  that,  while  the  land 
would  be  made  desolate,  there  would  be  a  rescue 
of  the  purified  people  after  many  days  and  that 
houses  and  fields  and  vineyards  would  "  yet  again 
be  bought  in  this  land.'* 

We  need  to  make  allowance  for  ancient  and 
Oriental  modes  of  expression.  There  is  another 
thing  for  which  we  must  make  allowance  in  judg- 
ing of  this  prophetic  literature.  Much  of  that 
which  was  preserved  in  the  great  epic  was  no  doubt 
written  down  by  the  prophets  themselves  before  or 
after  its  oral  utterance,  where  it  was  uttered  at  all 
under  the  circumstances  related,  but  some  of  it  was 
undoubtedly  written  out  by  others  from  hearsay 
or  tradition,  in  some  cases  invented  by  these  writers. 
During  a  period  of  nearly  two  centuries  between 
the  earliest  of  these  and  the  devastation  of  Judah 
by  Nebuchadrezzar  these  utterances  must  have 
been  collected  at  Jerusalem,  including  those  that 
had  their  origin  in  the  Northern  Kingdom  before 
the  destruction  of  Samaria.  Then  they  were  car- 
ried away  to  Babylon  in  more  or  less  confusion  and 
cherished  by  devout  scribes,  who  had  fifty  years 
in  which  to  work  over  and  to  arrange  and  tran- 


PROPHETS  OF  THE  KINGDOMS     163 

scribe  the  mass  of  precious  material.  In  this  work 
they  had  the  light  of  events  now  past  to  guide 
them,  and  there  Is  much  evidence  that  they  felt 
no  scruple  In  modifying  and  adapting  what  they 
had,  to  support  their  beliefs  and  their  religious 
faith. 

The  material  of  the  prophecies  was  evidently 
In  disorder  and  the  means  of  identifying  the  time 
and  place  of  production  and  the  authorship  of 
various  parts  of  it,  were  imperfect.  The  redac- 
tors and  copyists  were  not  skilful  and  the  final 
arrangement  was  defective.  In  most  cases  no  log- 
ical or  chronological  order  was  observed,  and  pas- 
sages were  credited  to  certain  prophets,  even  the 
greatest  of  them,  which  could  not  have  been  their 
work.  Take  as  a  conspicuous  example  the  Book 
of  Isaiah.  Nothing  after  the  thirty-ninth  chapter, 
in  the  modern  division  into  chapter  and  verse,  could 
have  come  from  the  prophet  of  the  time  of  Ahaz 
and  Hezekiah.  That  section  belongs  to  the  end 
of  the  exile  and  after.  The  last  four  chapters 
of  that  which  precedes  chapter  forty,  relating  to 
Sennacherib's  invasion,  the  sickness  of  Hezekiah 
and  the  mission  from  Merodach-Baladan  of  Baby- 
lon, are  taken  bodily  from  the  Book  of  Kings. 
What  precedes  these  is  badly  arranged  and  con- 
tains at  least  one  passage  that  is  older  than  Isaiah's 
time  and  several  that  are  later,  later  even  than 
the  exile,  the  final  redaction  having  been  made  long 


i64    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

after  the  return,  when  many  stray  fragments  of 
prophecy  were  misplaced  or  purposely  interpolated 
in  the  ancient  setting. 

Perhaps  the  oldest  of  the  oracles  preserved  In 
writing,  unless  we  regard  as  such  the  vaticinations 
put  in  the  mouth  of  Balaam  in  the  Book  of  Num- 
bers, is  the  poetical  tirade  against  Moab  in  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  chapters  of  Isaiah,  which 
Is  there  designated  as  the  word  spoken  by  the  Lord 
concerning  Moab  in  time  past.  It  is  a  pleasing 
conjecture  that  this  may  have  come  from  the  an- 
cient prophet  Jonah,  who  is  referred  to  in  the 
Book  of  Kings,  where  Jeroboam  II  is  said  to  have 
restored  the  border  of  Israel,  probably  including 
the  suppression  of  Moab,  "  according  to  the  word 
of  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  which  he  spake  by 
the  hand  of  Jonah  the  son  of  Amittai,  the  prophet 
which  was  of  Gath-hepher." 

But  the  earliest  complete  "  prophecy  "  labelled 
with  the  name  of  its  author,  is  that  of  Amos  the 
herdsman  of  Tekoa  in  Judah,  who  went  to  Beth-el 
in  Israel  in  the  time  of  Jeroboam  II,  to  denounce 
the  iniquities  that  were  flagrant  in  that  kingdom, 
and  to  utter  warnings  of  the  punishment  that 
awaited  the  guilty  realm.  The  time  of  this  was 
about  760  B.  C,  after  the  Assyrians  had  begun 
their  campaigns  of  conquest  in  the  West  and  there 
were  many  premonitions  of  the  fate  that  impended 
over  the  puny  nations  which  were  on  the  track  of 
the  armies  that  passed  between  the  empires  of  the 


PROPHETS  OF  THE  KINGDOMS     165 

Euphrates  and  the  Nile.  Amos  avowed  that  he 
was  not  by  profession  a  prophet  but  a  herdsman 
and  a  dresser  of  Sycamore  trees,  but  the  Lord  had 
taken  him  from  following  the  flock  and  sent  him 
to  "  prophesy  unto  Israel."  His  work  Is  highly 
poetical  and  full  of  burning  ardour.  He  regarded 
the  moving  of  the  armies  of  Assyria  as  a  menace 
of  the  Lord  to  the  sinful  nations  and  especially  to 
Israel,  for  Its  recreancy  to  the  covenant  with  Jacob 
and  the  worship  of  the  God  who  had  brought  his 
people  out  of  Egypt  and  given  them  their  goodly 
land. 

The  prophet  begins  with  rhapsodical  visions  of 
the  retribution  that  Is  coming  upon  Damascus  of 
Syria,  upon  Gaza  of  the  Philistines,  upon  Tyre, 
upon  Ammon  and  Moab,  and  even  upon  Judah, 
which  had  rejected  the  law  of  the  Lord;  but  his 
fiercest  denunciations  were  reserved  for  Israel, 
which  had  sold  the  righteous  for  silver  and  the 
needy  for  a  pair  of  shoes,  and  had  been  guilty  of 
injustice,  fraud,  oppression  of  the  poor  and  all 
Iniquity.  The  Lord  had  borne  with  their  sins  and 
tried  them  with  penalties  until  his  patience  was 
exhausted,  and  now  he  threatened  them  with  de- 
struction and  captivity.  The  prophet  used  much 
figurative  language  and  Indulged  in  visions,  but  it 
was  evidently  the  Assyrian  army  that  he  regarded 
as  the  coming  scourge,  and  he  knew  what  such  an 
army  of  conquest  from  the  mighty  East  must 
mean,  unless  the  angry  God  that  was  bringing  It 


1 66    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

on  was  placated  by  repentance  and  submission. 
The  whole  doctrine  of  the  prophets  was  summed 
up  in  these  words :  "  Shall  evil  befall  a  city  and  the 
Lord  hath  not  done  it?  Surely  the  Lord  God  will 
do  nothing  but  he  revealeth  his  secret  unto  his 
servants  the  prophets." 

But  never  did  the  prophets  of  Israel  fail  in  their 
faith  in  the  ultimate  rescue  and  salvation  of  the 
Lord's  people.  A  purified  remnant  would  surely 
be  restored  to  build  up  his  kingdom,  and  their 
enemies  would  be  destroyed  or  brought  into  sub- 
jection to  their  rule.  So,  after  the  denunciation 
and  threats,  said  to  have  been  delivered  at  Bethel 
and  to  have  resulted  in  a  charge  of  conspiracy  and 
a  warning  to  flee  into  the  land  of  Judah,  this  mes- 
sage was  concluded  with  a  promise  that  the  taber- 
nacle of  David  should  be  raised  up  again  and 
repaired,  the  people  should  be  brought  from  their 
captivity,  rebuild  their  waste  cities,  plant  vine- 
yards and  make  gardens,  and  they  "  shall  no  more 
be  plucked  out  of  their  land  which  I  have  given 
them,  said  the  Lord  God."  This  was  undoubt- 
edly added  after  the  exile. 

The  next  prophet  in  order  of  time  was  Hosea, 
who  was  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  over  which  the 
shadow  of  doom  was  darkening,  for  already  the 
army  of  T'iglath-PIleser  was  ravaging  the  sur- 
rounding country.  Damascus  and  Tyre  had  been 
brought  into  subjection  to  him  and  Samaria  was 
menaced.     The  first  three  chapters  of  the  Book 


PROPHETS  OF  THE  KINGDOMS     167 

of  Hosea,  as  it  is  now  divided,  must  have  been 
written  before  the  end  of  the  dynasty  of  Jehu, 
which  ceased  with  the  assassination  of  the  son  of 
Jeroboam  II,  within  six  months  of  that  king's 
death.  The  others  relate  to  the  time  of  Mena- 
hem,  who  succeeded  to  the  throne  by  speedily 
assassinating  the  assassin,  and  who  reigned  ten 
years.  No  events  are  referred  to  so  late  as  the 
league  between  Israel  and  Syria  against  Judah, 
about  736  B.  C.  There  is  no  reason  to  assume 
that  there  was  personal  experience  in  the  symbol- 
ism of  the  first  chapters,  which  rather  coarsely 
represents  the  relation  of  Israel  and  her  Lord  as 
that  of  an  unfaithful  wife  and  her  husband,  with 
threats  of  exposure  and  disgrace  and  promise  of 
renewed  union  and  love  after  repentance.  Im- 
agery of  that  kind  is  common  in  the  prophetic 
utterances,  heathen  worship  and  infidelity  to  the 
law  of  the  Lord  being  characterised  as  '^  whore- 
dom." 

This  prophecy  is  made  up  of  alternations 
of  rebuke  and  pleading  and  promise,  in  which 
the  author  puts  his  words  into  the  mouth  of  the 
Lord,  while  assuming  that  the  Lord  puts  the  words 
into  his  mouth.  He  is  deeply  depressed  by  the 
idolatry  and  the  iniquity  of  the  people,  and  the 
dreadful  peril,  which  he  believed  to  be  due  to 
the  resentment  and  anger  of  their  God,  who  was 
bringing  destruction  upon  them  as  a  punishment 
which  there  seemed  to  be  no  hope  of  averting. 


1 68     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

There  proved  to  be  no  way  of  averting  the  calam- 
ity, for  the  Assyrian  conquests  went  on,  and  it  was 
not  many  years  before  they  swept  over  Israel,  and 
Samaria  was  destroyed.  This  part  of  the  herit- 
age of  Jacob  was  never  restored,  though  its  resto- 
ration was  often  promised. 

The  menace  to  Judah  was  less  direct  and  it  was 
nearly  a  hundred  and  forty  years  before  a  like 
devastation  came  to  that  kingdom,  but  similar  use 
was  made  of  the  danger  by  the  prophets  in  their 
desperate  efforts  to  induce  the  people  and  their 
rulers  to  abandon  their  evil  ways  and  obey  the 
Lord,  whose  threats  and  promises  the  prophets 
uttered.  That  and  that  alone,  they  devoutly  be- 
lieved, would  save  the  nation  and  make  it  great 
and  glorious,  in  spite  of  all  its  enemies  could  do, 
however  seemingly  powerful.  These  were  only 
instruments  in  the  hands  of  Israel's  God,  who  was 
the  source  of  all  power.  The  greatest  of  the 
prophets  of  Judah,  as  the  Inevitable  crisis  made 
Its  slow  way  from  the  East,  was  Isaiah,  who  be- 
ginning in  the  time  of  Jotham,  about  740  B.  C, 
was  a  mentor  of  the  kings  until  the  death  of 
Hezekiah,  more  than  forty  years  later,  a  period 
covering  the  Assyrian  conquests  of  Syria  and 
Samaria  and  the  attack  of  Sennacherib  upon 
Judah,  when  Jerusalem  narrowly  escaped  the  fate 
that  afterwards  came  from  Babylon. 

The  book  which  contains  such  utterances  of 
this  great  prophet  as  were  preserved  is  a  com- 


PROPHETS  OF  THE  KINGDOMS     169 

posite  work,  even  more  difficult  to  analyse  than 
the  Pentateuch;  and,  after  all  the  erudition  and 
research  that  have  been  lavished  upon  it,  there  is 
much  uncertainty  as  to  the  source  and  the  appli- 
cation of  many  passages.  The  last  twenty-seven 
chapters,  as  it  stands  in  our  versions,  is  to  be 
relegated  to  the  close  of  the  exile  and  later.  The 
historical  passage  relating  to  the  invasion  of  Sen- 
nacherib, the  sickness  of  Hezekiah  and  the  visit 
of  the  emissaries  of  Merodach-Baladan,  as  has 
been  already  stated,  is  conveyed  bodily  from  the 
Book  of  Kings,  with  the  interpolation  of  a  kind  of 
psalm  designated  as  "  the  writing  of  Hezekiah 
when  he  had  been  sick  and  had  recovered  of  his 
sickness."  The  apocalyptic  passage  contained  in 
chapters  twenty-four  to  twenty-seven,  inclusive, 
belong  to  the  time  at  the  end  of  the  exile  when 
Assyria  and  Babylon  had  been  destroyed  and  high 
hopes  were  cherished  of  a  restoration  of  the  king- 
dom, which  should  extend  from  *'  the  flood  of  the 
River  unto  the  brook  of  Egypt,"  into  which  the 
exiles  and  outcasts  should  be  gathered,  with  their 
place  of  worship  in  the  holy  mountain  at  Jerusa- 
lem. 

The  succession  of  compilers,  revisers  and  editors 
of  this  material  made  use  of  such  authentic  utter- 
ances of  Isaiah  as  they  had  that  suited  their  pur- 
pose, but  they  did  not  observe  the  order  of  events 
or  verify  the  occasions  for  their  use,  and  they  did 
not  hesitate  to  modify  and  adapt  them,  or  to  in- 


170    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

troduce  extraneous  matter  of  later  origin.  Most 
of  this,  however,  has  the  Impress  of  that  prophetic 
doctrine  of  which  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  were  the 
greatest  exemplars.  It  was  Intended  to  show  how 
their  warnings  had  been  justified  and  their  predic- 
tions verified,  and  It  reiterated  with  new  emphasis 
the  promise  of  a  restoration  that  had  begun  and 
a  glory  and  power  that  were  hoped  for. 

The  first  chapter  of  Isaiah  which  forms  an  Im- 
pressive exordium  to  the  collection  Is  a  late  pro- 
duction of  the  prophet,  perhaps  of  the  time  of  the 
relapse  after  the  death  of  Hezeklah,  touched  by 
a  still  later  hand,  for  It  speaks  of  revolt,  estrange- 
ment and  backsliding  from  the  Holy  One  of 
Israel,  and  refers  to  a  retribution  that  has  already 
come  and  a  redemption  that  shall  yet  make  of 
ZIon  "  the  city  of  righteousness,  the  faithful  city," 
when  all  that  forsake  the  Lord  shall  be  consumed. 
It  Is  followed  by  four  chapters  which  are  regarded 
as  genuine  beyond  doubt  and  among  the  earlier 
utterances  of  the  prophet,  though  they  contain 
evidences  of  late  revision,  when  It  could  be  said 
that  "  Jerusalem  Is  ruined  and  Judah  is  fallen." 
It  Implies  Idolatry  and  heathen  practices  In  the 
land,  as  well  as  pride  and  folly  and  wickedness, 
which  the  Lord  is  to  purge  away  in  his  wrath 
with  the  ''  blast  of  judgment,"  until  those  that  are 
left  among  the  living  In  Jerusalem  shall  be  called 
holy.  The  fifth  chapter  contains  the  beautiful 
allegory  of  the  vineyard  which  brought  forth  only 


PROPHETS  OF  THE  KINGDOMS     171 

wild  grapes  and  further  denunciation  of  woes  and 
penalties  for  the  recreancy  of  the  Lord's  people, 
whom  he  had  smitten  and  against  whom  his  hand 
Is  "  stretched  out  still." 

Some  later  oracles  are  prefaced  by  the  state- 
ment of  the  prophet's  first  call  to  his  mission  by 
a  vision  In  the  temple  ''  In  the  year  that  King 
Uzzlah  died."  This  collection  begins  with  the 
first  that  Is  clearly  associated  with  a  definite  his- 
torical event,  the  alliance  of  Israel  under  Pekah 
and  Syria  under  Rezin  against  Judah  In  the  time 
of  Ahaz.  At  that  time  the  Assyrians  under 
Tiglath-PIleser  were  threatening  Syria  and  Ahaz 
hired  that  monarch  with  the  treasures  of  the  tem- 
ple to  save  him  "  out  of  the  hand  of  the  King  of 
Syria  and  out  of  the  hand  of  the  King  of  Israel." 
As  Tiglath-PIleser  was  already  In  possession  of 
Damascus  there  Is  no  doubt  that  this  was  what 
averted  the  danger  from  Jerusalem. 

Isaiah  Is  represented  as  flouting  the  danger  from 
these  "  two  tails  of  smoking  firebrands  "  and  pre- 
dicting that  before  a  child  yet  to  be  born  should 
come  to  the  age  of  knowing  "  to  refuse  the  evil  and 
choose  the  good,"  the  land  of  the  two  kings  whom 
Ahaz  abhorred  would  be  forsaken.  This  Is  fol- 
lowed by  further  prophesying  that  the  Lord  would 
call  the  fly  from  Egypt  and  the  bee  from  Assyria 
to  desolate  the  offending  land.  But  mingled  with 
this  are  later  poetical  fragments,  In  which  the  bur- 
den of  prophecy  Is  the  promise  of  restoration  after 


172 


THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 


completed  penalties,  when  the  throne  of  David 
should  be  restored  under  an  ideal  prince  of  peace. 
While  the  most  is  made  of  the  menace  of  As- 
syria against  Damascus  and  Samaria  as  a  warning 
to  Jerusalem,  it  is  the  doctrine  of  the  prophet  that 
the  Assyrian  is  only  a  "  rod  of  anger "  and  a 
*'  staff  of  indignation  "  In  the  hand  of  the  Lord, 
and  that  he  will  be  punished  in  his  turn  for  arro- 
gating to  himself  the  power  of  which  he  Is  only 
the  Instrument.  It  is  as  If  the  axe  should  boast 
itself  against  him  that  heweth  therewith,  the  saw 
magnify  Itself  against  him  that  shaketh  It,  or  the 
rod  shake  them  that  lift  It  up.  The  Lord  would 
chastise  Assyria  and  restore  a  remnant  of  his  peo- 
ple. The  passage  following  the  graphic  picture 
of  the  coming  on  of  the  host  and  the  devastation 
the  Lord  would  bring  about,  which  tells  of  a 
time  when  an  ideal  king  from  the  stock  of  Jesse 
should  reign  in  righteousness  and  peace,  and  the 
remnant  of  the  scattered  people  would  be  recalled 
from  the  four  corners  of  the  earth  to  subjugate 
their  enemies,  might  be  regarded  as  a  prophetic 
vision  of  Isaiah,  but  It  Is  far  more  likely  to  be 
the  offspring  of  the  dreams  of  the  post-exilic  time. 
It  Is  certain  that  that  which  follows,  relating  to 
the  doom  of  Babylon,  was  not  written  before  the 
time  of  the  attack  of  Cyrus.  How  much  of  the 
various  denunciations  of  doom  upon  the  nations 
hostile  to  "  the  people  of  God  "  came  from  Isaiah, 
and  how  much  from  those  who  intermingled  his 


PROPHETS  OF  THE  KINGDOMS     173 

writings  with  their  own,  It  Is  Impossible  to  deter- 
mine. That  relating  to  Egypt  certainly  refers  to 
events  later  than  his  time,  and  It  ends  with  the 
strange  prediction  of  an  alliance  between  Egypt, 
Assyria  and  Israel,  who  were  to  have  the  com- 
mon blessing  of  the  Lord  In  the  midst  of  the  earth : 
"  Blessed  be  Egypt  my  people,  and  Assyria  the 
w^ork  of  my  hands  and  Israel  mine  Inheritance." 
This  Is  far  from  the  manner  and  spirit  of  the 
prophet  who  denounced  all  alliance  with  other  na- 
tions or  dependence  upon  their  help,  and  urged 
complete  reliance  upon  the  God  who  made  Israel 
his  own  peculiar  care  and  would  make  It  the  one 
great  nation  of  the  earth  If  It  obeyed  him  and  kept 
his  law. 

A  definite  relation  to  history  in  the  oracles  of 
Isaiah  appears  again  in  the  later  chapters,  begin- 
ning with  the  twenty-eighth,  sometimes  designated 
as  the  "  Assyrian  cycle."  Though  this  passage  Is 
introduced  by  an  older  fragment  pronouncing  woe 
upon  Samaria  as  "  the  crown  of  the  drunkards  of 
Ephralm,"  It  relates  in  general  to  the  time  of  the 
*'  overflowing  scourge  "  of  Sennacherib's  army, 
which  was  to  be  used  to  chastise  and  correct  Judah, 
but  would  not  be  permitted  to  destroy  Jerusalem. 
Here  the  turning  of  Hezeklah  to  Egypt  for  help 
against  the  overpowering  army  from  the  East  Is 
distinctly  condemned.  We  hear  again  that  ter- 
rible voice  denouncing  the  covenant  with  Sheol 
^nd  the  agreement  with  death  which  the  rulers. 


174    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

of  Jerusalem  seemed  to  have  made,  portraying  the 
might  and  anger  of  an  outraged  God,  and  depict- 
ing the  retribution  that  he  was  bringing  upon  an 
offending  people.  The  language  flows  like  a  tor- 
rent and  roars  like  a  cataract,  but  sometimes  it 
sinks  into  a  tone  of  pleading,  and  again  rises  into 
exultation  over  a  final  restoration  when  the  venge- 
ance of  the  Lord  should  be  complete  and  "  the 
wilderness  and  the  solitary  place  shall  be  glad  and 
the  desert  shall  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose." 

There  is  always  reason  for  regarding  these  ex- 
ultant passages  as  late  interpolations,  belonging 
to  the  time  when  there  was  a  prospect  that  "  the 
ransomed  of  the  Lord  "  were  about  to  return  and 
"  come  with  singing  unto  Zion,"  and  when  there 
was  hope  that  everlasting  joy  was  to  be  upon  their 
heads  in  the  restored  kingdom.  There  is  a  pro- 
saic ending,  in  the  redactor's  transcript  from  the 
Book  of  Kings  of  the  account  of  Sennacherib's 
sudden  diversion  from  his  attack  upon  Jerusalem. 
Of  the  fate  of  the  prophet  when  this  great  crisis 
was  over  and  the  land  relapsed  into  quietness  and 
peace  we  know  nothing;  but  It  may  be  that  his 
blood  was  mingled  with  that  with  which  Manasseh 
filled  Jerusalem  after  the  death  of  his  father. 

There  was  a  "  minor  prophet  "  In  the  time  of 
Isaiah  some  of  whose  utterances  were  preserved. 
This  was  Micah  of  Morasheth  on  the  border  of 
Philistla,  who  was  also  aroused  to  righteous  Indig- 
nation by  the  Iniquities  of  Samaria  and  Jerusalem, 


PROPHETS  OF  THE  KINGDOMS     175 

and  regarded  the  Assyrian  menace  as  a  portent  of 
punishment.  The  first  three  chapters  of  the  book 
bearing  this  name  are  of  unquestioned  authenticity 
and  their  contents  must  have  preceded  the  destruc- 
tion of  Samaria,  but  the  rest  is  a  dubious  mixture. 
The  consolatory  verses  at  the  beginning  of 
Chapter  four  are  a  late  Interpolation  and  almost  a 
paraphrase  of  the  beginning  of  the  second  Chap- 
ter of  Isaiah.  The  rest  of  Chapter  four  and  all 
of  Chapter  five  is  a  blending  of  inharmonious 
elements,  and  if  originally  from  the  same  source 
was  mangled  by  late  editing.  Chapter  six  and 
the  beginning  of  seven  appear  to  reflect  the  dismal 
time  of  Manasseh  and  may  be  from  the  same  hand 
as  the  first  chapters,  but  it  Is  certain  that  the  last 
chapter  from  verse  seven  to  the  end  was  not  earlier 
than  the  time  of  anticipated  restoration  at  the  end 
of  the  exile. 

During  the  long  reign  of  Manasseh,  which  was 
characterised  by  relapse  to  the  grosser  form  of 
the  worship  of  Yahweh,  akin  to  that  of  Baal, 
and  perhaps  mingled  with  it,  and  by  reaction 
against  the  exacting  ethical  standard  taught  in 
Hezeklah's  time,  there  was  no  voice  of  admonition 
and  warning  that  has  been  transmitted,  unless  It 
be  that  of  MIcah.  One  oracle  of  that  period 
there  is,  labelled  with  the  name  of  Nahum  the 
Elkoshlte.  Some  authorities  place  Elkosh  in  Gal- 
ilee, but  it  does  not  matter.  Nahum's  *'  vision  " 
was  a  fierce  threat  of  the  destruction  of  Nineveh 


176     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

by  the  Lord,  whose  people  Assyria  had  so  out- 
raged, and  It  begins  with  a  fervid  portrayal  of 
the  might  of  that  avenging  deity  when  his  wrath 
was  excited.  It  Is  mainly  poetical  In  structure 
and  abounds  In  graphic  Imagery  of  the  forces  of 
destruction  with  which  "  the  Lord  "  would  lash 
the  "  bloody  city."  It  was  written  after  the  con- 
quest of  Egypt  and  the  destruction  of  Thebes,  or 
"  No-amon,"  by  the  Assyrians,  and  at  a  time  when 
Nineveh  was  threatened  from  the  East;  but  the 
city  was  not  destroyed  until  long  after,  by  Nabo- 
polassar  of  Babylon. 

After  the  short  reign  of  Manasseh's  son  Amon, 
and  while  the  child  Josiah  occupied  the  throne  of 
Judah,  perhaps  under  the  guidance  of  the  temple 
priests,  there  was  a  revival  of  prophecy.  We 
hear  nothing  of  it  until  the  boy  king  had  reigned 
a  dozen  years  or  more  and  was  about  twenty  years 
of  age.  It  was  then  that  the  great  champion  of 
theocracy,  Jeremiah,  appeared,  and  from  that 
time  he  attended  the  agonies  of  the  kingdom  until 
It  expired  under  the  punitive  assaults  of  Nebu- 
chadrezzar of  Babylon;  but  there  were  two 
"  minor  prophets,"  contemporary  with  the  earlier 
and  middle  part  of  his  career,  some  of  whose 
utterances  were  considered  worthy  of  preservation 
through  the  subsequent  vicissitudes  of  this  remark- 
able literature. 

Joslah's  reign  began  in  640  B.  C,  and  it  was 
not  until  622  that  the  book  of  the  law  was  said  to 


PROPHETS  OF  THE  KINGDOMS     177 

have  been  found  in  the  temple,  the  discovery  of 
which  was  followed  by  a  drastic  reform  in  the 
worship  of  Yahweh.  This  was  now  centered  at 
Jerusalem,  and  that  in  the  ''  high  places  "  was 
wiped  out.  Zephaniah  is  represented  as  being  a 
descendant  in  the  fourth  generation  from  Heze- 
kiah,  presumably  the  king,  the  great  grandfather 
of  Josiah.  It  must  have  been  before  the  reforms 
of  Josiah  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  is  said  to  have 
come  to  Zephaniah  proclaiming  destruction  of  all 
the  earth  on  a  great  and  terrible  "  day  of  the 
Lord's  wrath,"  on  account  of  the  sinfulness  even 
of  Jerusalem.  It  is  intimated  that  the  "  fierce  an- 
ger "  may  be  averted  from  that  city  if  its  people 
will  "  gather  themselves  "  and  seek  righteousness 
and  meekness.  Some  regard  this  intimation  as  a 
later  addition,  and  the  threats  against  the  nations 
hostile  to  Judah  as  from  a  different  source.  At 
all  events,  the  promise  of  restoration  of  a  dis- 
persed people  and  the  song  of  rejoicing  with  which 
this  prophecy  ends  are  an  addition  of  the  time 
of  the  exile  or  later.  It  is  probable  that  the  gen- 
uine oracle  of  Zephaniah  with  its  menace  of  de- 
struction, intended  to  terrify  the  people  into  turn- 
ing to  the  Lord  for  escape,  was  incited  by  the 
invasion  of  Scythians  In  Western  Asia  about  628 
B.  C. 

It  was  after  Babylon  had  gained  the  ascendancy 
In  the  East  and  was  starting  westward  on  its  career 
of   conquest,    in   which   Egypt   was    defeated    at 


178     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

Carchemlsh  and  all  the  smaller  nations  were  re- 
duced to  a  state  of  vassalage,  that  "  the  burden 
which  Habakkuk  did  see  "  appeared.  It  Is  con- 
tained In  two  of  the  three  chapters  to  which  his 
name  Is  attached,  the  third,  or  ^'  prayer  of  Habak- 
kuk the  prophet,"  being  a  psalm  appended  after 
the  return  from  exile.  This  "  burden "  Is  not 
altogether  homogeneous  and  its  parts  are  disar- 
ranged, but  Its  chief  feature  Is  a  graphic  descrip- 
tion of  the  Chaldean  army,  which  the  Lord  Is  to 
bring  over  the  land  for  its  chastisement.  The 
prophet  appears  to  remonstrate  against  the  policy 
of  letting  the  wicked  swallow  up  the  man  that  is 
more  righteous  than  he,  and  is  told  to  write  the 
vision,  wherein  woe  Is  pronounced  upon  one  who 
may,  perhaps,  figuratively  represent  that  "  bitter 
and  hasty  nation  "  which  was  to  be  used  as  a 
scourge  and  then  humiliated  for  serving  the  pur- 
pose to  which  it  was  incited  by  divine  wrath. 
Those  who  assume  to  interpret  the  enigmatical 
language  are  not  agreed  as  to  Its  application,  but 
it  is  certainly  intended  to  magnify  the  God  of 
Israel  and  Induce  submission  to  his  authority  as 
expressed  by  his  prophets. 

The  stage  is  cleared  for  the  entrance  of  the 
last  and  in  some  respects  the  greatest  of  the 
prophets  of  the  kingdoms,  as  distinguished  from 
those  of  the  exile  and  after.  Jeremiah  was  of  the 
priests  of  Anathoth  in  Benjamin.  To  him  "  the 
word  of  the  Lord  came  "  in  the  thirteenth  year 


PROPHETS  OF  THE  KINGDOMS     179 

of  the  reign  of  Josiah,  and  sent  him  to  Jerusalem 
to  "  cry  in  the  ears  of  the  City,"  saying  "  Thus 
saith  the  Lord."  We  must  recognise  the  fact, 
to  start  with,  that  what  is  called  "  The  Book  of 
the  prophet  Jeremiah,"  like  the  ''  Books  of 
Moses  "  and  the  "  Book  of  Isaiah,"  is  a  late  com- 
pilation, labelled  with  his  name  and  containing  in 
a  more  or  less  mutilated  and  modified  form  such 
of  his  utterances  as  were  preserved  in  writing. 
But  it  contains  many  fragments  of  later  oracles 
and  other  extraneous  matter,  some  of  it  intended 
to  explain  the  circumstances  to  which  the  proph- 
ecies relate.  The  purpose  of  this  is  not  historical 
but  doctrinal,  In  support  of  the  central  idea  of 
the  great  epic  composition,  that  Israel  had  been 
chosen  and  cherished  by  its  God  Yahweh,  who 
was  the  creator  and  lord  of  all  the  earth,  that 
the  calamity  to  which  it  had  come  was  due  to 
its  failure  to  obey  his  commands  and  be  submis- 
sive to  his  will  and  faithful  to  his  worship,  that 
other  nations  were  used  as  a  scourge  to  punish  the 
recreant  and  rebellious  and  would  be  punished 
In  their  turn  for  arrogating  the  power  and  credit 
to  themselves,  while  a  chastened  and  purified  rem- 
nant of  God's  people  would  be  restored  and  re- 
united under  a  king  of  the  house  of  David,  and 
would  rule  the  world  In  righteousness  and  peace 
under  the  guidance  of  the  Almighty  One. 

This  conception  began  with  the  prophets,  who 
embodied  the   national   pride   and   ambition   and 


i8o    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

deemed  themselves  inspired  by  the  deity  to  utter 
his  own  words,  was  developed  and  cherished 
through  the  long  exile  and  after  the  restoration, 
and  became  the  chief  article  of  faith  and  hope 
while  the  humiliated  people  struggled  in  galling 
subjection  successively  to  Persia  and  Greece.  It 
was  under  its  influence  that  all  the  old  writings 
were  painfully  wrought  over  and  welded  into  a 
sacred  epic  to  sustain  the  indomitable  spirit  of 
Judaism.  One  of  the  chief  pillars  of  this  great 
fabric  is  this  book  of  Jeremiah.  It  was  the  prod- 
uct of  a  succession  of  compilations  and  revisions 
finally  moulded  into  one  as  late  as  the  third  cen- 
tury B.  C. 

How  much  of  it  consists  of  the  actual  utter- 
ances or  writings  of  the  prophet  cannot  be 
determined  with  certainty,  but  allusions  to  events, 
circumstances  and  conditions  in  the  exile  and  long 
after,  are  easily  traced,  and  the  general  character 
of  the  collection  is  well  established.  Those  who 
gave  it  the  final  impress  could  look  back  upon  the 
trials  and  calamities  of  the  nation  through  the 
preceding  centuries,  realise  the  devastation  and 
desolation  of  the  land  and  the  resistless  power 
that  had  trodden  it  down,  and  could  only  comfort 
themselves  with  the  conviction  that  it  was  due  to 
the  sin  and  disobedience  of  the  people  and  their 
rulers,  and  that  it  was  only  necessary  to  profit  by 
the  chastisement  and  rely  upon  the  unseen  poten- 
tate that  must  still  be  their  God  and  theirs  only, 


PROPHETS  OF  THE  KINGDOMS     i8i 

to  receive  the  benefit  of  the  promises  they  believed 
him  to  have  made  to  their  fathers  and  repeated 
from  age  to  age  through  his  prophets. 

When  Jeremiah  first  appeared  at  Jerusalem  the 
conditions  left  after  the  reign  of  Manasseh  and 
Amon  had  not  materially  changed,  and  his  ear- 
lier utterances,  scattered  in  disorder  through  the 
first  twenty  chapters  of  the  book,  have  the  famil- 
iar tone  of  reproach,  remonstrance  and  threat, 
of  lamentation  and  mourning,  heated  to  burning 
intensity.  Rumours  of  the  Scythian  invasion  from 
the  North  gave  point  to  the  menace  of  destruc- 
tion, to  be  averted  only  by  submission  to  the 
Lord.  What  part  the  prophet  may  have  taken 
in  the  promulgation  of  the  newly  found  version 
of  the  law  and  the  reforms  that  followed  through 
the  action  of  Josiah,  instigated  by  the  priests,  is 
left  in  profound  obscurity.  It  is  significant  that 
neither  he  nor  his  prophesying  is  mentioned  in  the 
Book  of  Kings  and  that  none  of  the  oracles  at- 
tributed to  him  relate  to  this  part  of  Josiah's  reign 
or  make  any  direct  reference  to  it.  It  is  only 
after  the  untimely  death  of  that  king  that  the 
prophet's  voice  is  again  heard  in  warning  and 
menace,  and  then  appalling  danger  is  gathering 
in  the  East.  The  kings  of  Judah  had  continued 
to  be  tributary  to  Assyria,  though  apparently  free 
from  direct  oppression,  but  after  Josiah  lost  his 
life  in  the  rash  attempt  to  intercept  the  Egyptian 
army  under  Necho   at   Megiddo,   that  monarch 


i82     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

seized  his  son  Jehoahaz,  after  he  had  nominally 
reigned  three  months,  and  carried  him  away  to 
Egypt,  making  his  brother  king  under  the  name 
of  Jehoiakim. 

There  is  but  one  reference  to  Jehoahaz  In  Jere- 
miah, and  there  he  Is  contemptuously  called  Shal- 
lum,  and  a  prediction  Is  Interjected  that  he  should 
die  *'  In  the  place  whither  they  have  led  him 
captive."  There  are  several  references  to 
Jehoiakim,  who  had  first  paid  tribute  to  Egypt 
for  the  safety  of  his  kingdom,  but  after  the  bat- 
tle of  Carchemish  had  become  a  vassal  of  Babylon 
and  three  years  later  revolted  and  brought  the 
wrath  of  Nebuchadrezzar  upon  his  country. 
This  led  to  the  ravaging  of  Judah  and  the  siege 
of  Jerusalem,  and  three  months  after  the  death 
of  Jehoiakim  his  son  Jeholachin  surrendered. 
There  was  a  deportation  to  Babylon  of  princes 
and  priests  and  men  of  war.  Among  these  the 
name  of  Mattanlah,  a  son  of  Josiah,  appears,  but 
according  to  the  record  he  was  made  King  of 
Judah  by  Nebuchadrezzar,  with  the  name  of 
Zedekiah,  and  was  destined  to  be  the  last  of  the 
line.  It  was  his  presumption  In  revolting  and 
relying  upon  the  help  of  Egypt  that  led  to  the 
return  of  the  Chaldean  army,  the  devastation  of 
the  country,  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  after  a 
long  siege,  and  the  final  deportation  in  586  B.  C. 

During  all  the  stirring  and  critical  events  of 
the  last  twenty  years  of  the  Kingdom  of  Judah, 


PROPHETS  OF  THE  KINGDOMS     183 

Jeremiah  was  unwearied  In  his  denunciation  of 
the  wickedness  of  the  people  and  the  presumption 
of  the  rulers,  and  brought  persecution  and  abuse 
upon  himself  by  advocating  submission  to  Baby- 
lon and  condemning  trust  in  Egypt  or  any  other 
earthly  power. 

The  most  surely  authentic  collection  of  the 
prophet's  utterances,  as  written  out  probably  in 
his  own  time,  but  somewhat  revised  afterwards, 
contain  few  distinct  allusions  to  historical  events, 
but  they  come  down  to  his  threats  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  and  the  desolation  of  Judah 
by  Nebuchadrezzar's  army  and  the  "  carrying 
away  "  to  Babylon,  which  would  be  its  Inevitable 
sequel.  This  collection  closes  with  what  purports 
to  be  an  account  of  his  seizure  by  one  of  the 
king's  officers  and  his  confinement  in  the  stocks 
for  prophesying  such  a  calamity.  He  is  repre- 
sented as  fiercely  repeating  the  threat  and  de- 
nouncing captivity  and  death  upon  his  persecutor 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  then  complaining 
in  his  despair  that  the  Lord  had  deceived  him 
and  brought  him  into  humiliation,  and  as  cursing 
the  day  wherein  he  was  born. 

But  immediately  following  this  collection  is  an- 
other and  later  one  which  begins  with  the  state- 
ment that  this  same  officer,  Pashur,  and  another 
were  sent  by  King  Zedeklah  to  Implore  the 
prophet  to  inquire  of  the  Lord  regarding  the 
attack     of     Nebuchadrezzar     upon     Jerusalem. 


i84    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

This  was  at  the  time  of  the  final  siege,  though 
earlier  events  are  afterwards  referred  to.  The 
reply  is  that  the  Lord  will  fight  on  the  side  of 
the  Chaldeans,  destroy  the  city,  and  deliver  the 
people  into  the  hand  of  the  King  of  Babylon. 
Those  who  resisted  he  would  smite  without  pity 
and  without  mercy,  and  only  those  who  yielded 
would  have  a  chance  of  life.  This  is  out  of  its 
proper  order  and  is  followed  by  some  discon- 
nected fragments  relating  to  the  previous  kings 
since  Josiah.  After  a  brief  exordium  threaten- 
ing the  kings  of  Judah  generally  if  they  would 
not  hear  the  words  of  the  Lord,  it  is  said 
that  "  Shallum  "  ( Jehoahaz)  shall  die  in  the  land 
to  which  he  has  been  carried,  but  is  not  to  be 
wept  for.  Neither  was  there  to  be  lamentation 
for  Jehoiakim,  who  would  have  the  "  burial  of 
an  ass  "  and  be  cast  forth  beyond  the  gates  of 
Jerusalem.  Jehoiachin,  or  Jeconiah,  referred  to 
as  "  Coniah,"  the  Lord  would  "  pluck  hence  and 
deliver  to  the  King  of  Babylon  "  and  no  man  of 
his  seed  should  prosper  sitting  upon  the  throne 
of  David. 

No  doubt  these  were  retrospective  proph- 
ecies written  after  the  event,  and  not  the  words 
of  Jeremiah.  What  follows  them  is  certainly 
of  late  origin,  as  are  all  the  passages  tell- 
ing of  the  days  to  come  when  the  Lord  would 
gather  his  people  from  the  countries  into  which 
he   had   driven   them   and  would   establish  over 


PROPHETS  OF  THE  KINGDOMS     185 

them  a  "  righteous  Branch  "  of  David  to  execute 
judgment  and  justice.  The  violent  denunciation 
of  the  false  prophets  Is  sufficiently  characteristic 
to  be  genuine,  at  least  In  substance,  and  the  sym- 
bolism of  the  baskets  of  figs  may  have  been  found 
among  the  writings  of  the  prophet.  This  latter 
accords  with  the  view  Imputed  to  him  that  those 
who  had  been  deported  with  Jehoiachin  were  a 
saving  remnant  and  those  who  were  left  behind 
were  doomed.  Farther  on  there  Is  what  pur- 
ports to  be  a  letter  of  the  prophet  to  the  "  elders  " 
in  captivity,  telling  them  to  make  themselves  at 
home  where  they  are  and  promising  restoration 
after  seventy  years.  This  Is  also  accompanied  by 
denunciation  of  the  false  prophets.  The  chapter 
Is  a  disconnected  production  which  may  have  had 
a  genuine  basis. 

Those  portions  of  the  Book  of  Jeremiah  com- 
prised In  chapters  xxvl  to  xxix  and  xxxlv  to  xllv 
are  of  a  quasi  historical  character  and  contain 
statements  of  events  and  the  prophet's  part 
in  them,  for  which  there  may  have  been  writ- 
ten material.  In  a  measure  they  supplement 
the  Book  of  Kings  and  may  have  come  from 
the  hand  of  the  compiler  of  Its  latest  chap- 
ters during  the  exile.  There  Is  a  conjecture 
that  Baruch,  who  is  said  in  the  time  of  Jehoiakim 
to  have  written  out  the  words  which  the  Lord 
had  spoken  unto  Jeremiah  "  against  Israel  and 
against  Judah  and  against  all  the  aatlons  "  from, 


1 86    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

the  days  of  Josiah,  and  to  have  re-written  them 
with  additions  when  the  roll  was  burnt  by  the 
king,  and  who  was  carried  away  to  Egypt  with 
the  prophet  after  the  siege,  was  the  latest  com- 
piler of  the  annals  of  the  Kings  and  the  author 
in  their  original  form  of  these  historical  passages 
relating  to  the  last  days  of  the  kingdom  and  giv- 
ing an  account  of  Jeremiah's  utterances,  his  treat- 
ment by  the  household  of  Zedekiah  and  by  the 
king  himself.  Baruch  is  supposed  to  have  es- 
caped from  Egypt  and  made  his  way  to  Baby- 
lon, where  he  was  active  in  putting  these  writ- 
ings into  form. 

The  closing  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Jeremiah 
is  taken  bodily  from  the  end  of  the  second 
Book  of  Kings,  but  before  that  there  is  a 
further  account  of  the  sequel  to  the  siege,  the 
tumult  which  followed,  the  assassination  of  the 
governor  appointed  by  Nebuchadrezzar's  officer, 
the  choice  given  to  the  prophet  to  go  with  the 
captives  or  to  stay  behind,  his  failure  to  induce 
those  who  stayed  to  remain  in  the  deserted  land, 
and  his  forcible  abduction  from  Bethehem,  where 
they  had  gathered,  to  Egypt.  It  would  seem  that 
Baruch  or  some  one  else,  either  preserved  the 
fierce  tirades  of  the  prophet  against  the  conduct 
of  the  refugees  in  the  borders  of  Egypt  or  im- 
puted to  him  those  which  he  was  presumed  to 
have  uttered.  At  last  his  uncompromising  voice 
was    silenced    and    tradition    said    that    he    was 


PROPHETS  OF  THE  KINGDOMS     187 

stoned  to  death  by  the  people  whose  practices  he 
persisted  in  denouncing. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  passages  relating 
to  the  restoration  of  Israel  and  the  destruction 
of  its  enemies  in  the  days  to  come,  contained  in 
chapters  xxx  to  xxxiii  and  xlvi  to  li,  with  the 
passage  interpolated  as  chapter  xxv,  m  the  book 
as  divided  In  modern  versions,  were  in  the  main 
of  late  production,  in  the  exile  and  after,  and 
were  retrospective  In  their  prophecy  of  events 
that  were  then  past.  But  they  were  elabora- 
tions of  a  central  Idea  of  Jeremiah's  utterances, 
which  served  as  a  pattern  and  Inspiration  for 
writers  of  the  time  when  the  hope  was  dominant 
that  the  Lord  would  restore  the  kingdom, 
gather  all  the  scattered  children  of  the  house- 
hold of  Israel  from  among  the  nations,  and 
set  up  a  righteous  king  of  the  line  of  David  on 
Mount  ZIon  who  would  rule  In  submission  to 
Yahweh's  guidance.  This  mingling  of  Jere- 
miah's genuine  utterances  with  those  Imputed  to 
him  long  after  serves  as  a  bridge  from  the  calam- 
ity, humiliation  and  despair  of  Judah's  devas- 
tation and  Jerusalem's  desolation,  over  the  gulf 
of  exile  by  the  streams  of  Babylon,  to  the  time 
of  restoration  and  hope,  when  the  walls  of  Jeru- 
salem were  rebuilt,  the  temple  was  renewed  and 
the  "  laws  of  Moses "  were  developed  Into  a 
system  of  ritual  worship  unknown  before. 

There  Is  nowhere  else   in   human  history  any 


1 88     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

production  of  man's  genius  more  intense  in  ex- 
pression than  the  so-called  prophecies  of  Jere- 
miah, and  that  intensity  was  inspired  by  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  time  and  the  ardent  nature  of 
the  man.  He  was  a  fervent  believer  in  the  doc- 
trine he  preached,  and  an  Intense  lover  of  his 
country,  which  he  saw  in  the  agonies  of  disso- 
lution from  the  attack  of  a  powerful  enemy.  His 
judgment  and  foresight  taught  him  that  resistance 
to  the  armies  of  Babylon  was  useless,  that  a  league 
of  the  petty  nations  for  defence  was  futile,  and 
that  reliance  upon  Egypt  for  rescue  was  folly. 
But  with  all  his  soul  he  believed  that  this  situa- 
tion was  brought  about  by  Israel's  God  as  a 
punishment  of  his  recreant  and  stiff-necked  peo- 
ple, who  persisted  in  worshipping  other  gods,  In 
bowing  down  to  idols  and  neglecting  the  princi- 
ples of  conduct  inculcated  by  the  prophets,  whose 
words  were  put  In  their  mouth  by  God  himself. 
He  believed  that  If  the  people  would  repent  and 
return  to  their  allegiance  to  the  power  that  had 
made  a  covenant  with  their  fathers  and  given 
them  all  they  had,  his  anger  would  be  placated, 
his  mercy  would  be  excited,  his  love  would  be 
regained  and  he  would  turn  back  their  enemies 
and  restore  them  to  safety  and  happiness  as  a 
nation.  But  he  was  convinced  after  years  of  ap- 
peal, of  warning  and  of  threats  and  promises, 
that  the  case  was  hopeless.  They  must  undergo 
a   terrible   retribution   which   would   chastise   the 


PROPHETS  OF  THE  KINGDOMS     189 

guilt  out  of  them  and  destroy  the  Incorrigible, 
but  a  purified  remnant  would  be  saved  and  re- 
stored, for  Israel's  God  could  not  be  utterly  de- 
feated and  his  purposes  could  not  finally  fall. 
Israel  had  been  his  care  for  a  thousand  years, 
and  wayward  as  It  was.  It  would  be  chastened 
and  made  triumphant  In  the  end. 

It  was  the  prophet's  conception  of  deity  and 
of  his  relation  to  mankind,  especially  his  relation 
to  his  own  peculiar  people,  that  gave  such  In- 
tensity to  his  utterances.  Israel's  God  was  lov- 
ing and  merciful  when  obeyed  and  submissively 
worshipped,  but  he  was  fiercely  jealous  of  other 
gods  and  excited  to  wrath  and  Indignation  when 
his  own  beloved  people  fell  away  to  them. 
When  his  anger  was  aroused  he  was  vengeful  and 
ruthless,  and  he  controlled  all  the  powers  of 
nature  and  of  nations  and  would  use  them  In  his 
fury  for  punishment  and  destruction.  The  lan- 
guage of  warning  and  of  menace  was  filled  with 
the  most  graphic  use  of  figure  and  Imagery.  The 
Lord  would  sweep  over  the  land  In  whirlwind  and 
fire;  he  would  waste  with  famine  and  destroy 
with  pestilence;  he  would  slay  with  the  sword  and 
cover  the  land  with  men's  bones;  he  would  bring 
armies  from  afar  like  devouring  locusts  and  birds 
of  prey;  he  would  raven  like  wolves  and  lions; 
he  would  roar  and  howl  and  bring  tempest  and 
darkness  and  fill  the  world  with  terror  and  dis- 
may,  because   of  the  Iniquities,   the   disobedience 


I90    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

and  the  wilfulness  of  his  people,  who  showed 
such  base  ingratitude. 

No  doubt  the  prophet  imputed  his  own  feel- 
ings to  his  God,  but  he  believed  that  they  came 
from  that  source  and  that  he  was  uttering  the 
words  that  Jehovah  (Yahweh)  inspired  within 
him.  He  could  not  separate  himself  from  "  the 
Lord.'*  There  were  other  prophets  who  pre- 
sumed to  speak  in  the  same  name  in  giving  dif- 
ferent counsel,  and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  de- 
nounce them  as  deceivers  and  liars  and  threaten 
them  with  disaster  and  death,  still  imputing  his 
own  words  to  the  outraged  deity.  Naturally,  the 
words  of  these  other  prophets  were  seldom  pre- 
served and  then  only  to  vindicate  the  utterances 
of  those  who  were  regarded  as  the  true  prophets 
of  God. 

The  most  remarkable  thing  about  these  He- 
brew seers,  with  their  conceptions,  in  many  re- 
spects crude  and  barbarous,  of  the  deity  and  of 
the  worldly  destiny  of  their  own  nation,  is  the 
lofty  ethical  principles  which  they  taught  as  the 
word  of  God,  the  principles  of  truth  and  justice, 
of  kindness  and  mercy,  the  doctrine  of  everlasting 
righteousness,  which  was  far  above  the  standard 
of  any  other  ancient  people  and  of  a  validity  that 
no  lapse  of  time  can  impair.  That  is  the  pe- 
culiar contribution  that  the  Hebrew  genius  made 
to  mankind,  and  it  imparted  a  kind  of  sanctity  to 
the  whole  body  of  the  literature  which  was  bound 


PROPHETS  OF  THE  KINGDOMS     191 

up  together  as  the  full  expression  of  that  genius. 
Its  knowledge  of  the  world  was  small,  Its  con- 
ception of  deity  was  rude,  Its  Idea  of  worship  was 
far  from  enlightened,  but  It  grasped  the  moral 
law  of  the  universe  with  a  firmness  that  has  never 
been  relaxed. 


IX 

PROPHETS    OF   THE    EXILE   AND   AFTER 

In  those  strange  times  when  even  enlightened 
people  accepted  the  ancient  Jewish  doctrine  that 
the  scriptures  of  the  Hebrews  contained  nothing 
but  divine  truth,  to  be  imphcitly  believed  as 
such,  and  that  the  writers  thereof  were  inspired 
by  the  deity  and  therefore  incapable  of  error, 
it  was  assumed  that  the  long  period  of  exile  by 
the  rivers  of  Babylon  was  one  of  hterary  dark- 
ness, illumined  only  by  the  visions  and  prophetic 
discourses  of  Ezekiel.  Intelligent  study  has  re- 
vealed the  fact  that  It  was  a  busy  time  for  the 
Hebrew  genius,  for  the  brains  of  Judah  had  been 
deported  from  Jerusalem.  The  compiler  of  the 
Book  of  Kings  said  that  when  Jehoiachin  was 
carried  away  all  the  chief  men  of  the  land  went 
with  him  and  "  all  the  men  of  might  even  seven 
thousand,  and  the  craftsmen  and  smiths  a  thou- 
sand." A  late  reviser  raised  the  number  of  cap- 
tives to  ten  thousand  and  said  that  "  none  re- 
mained save  the  poorest  sort  of  the  people  of  the 
land."  Eleven  years  later,  when  Nebuchad- 
rezzar's army  destroyed  Jerusalem  and  Zedekiah 
was  carried  away.  It  Is  said  that  "  the  residue  of 

192 


LATER  PROPHETS  193 

the  multitude  did  Nebuzaradan  the  Captain  of 
the  Guard  carry  away  captive,"  and  only  the  poor- 
est of  the  land  were  left  "  to  be  vinedressers  and 
husbandmen." 

This  is  an  exaggerated  statement,  but  there  is 
no  doubt  that  the  priests  and  scribes  were  deported 
and  they  took  the  literary  treasures  of  the  temple 
with  them  and  had  plenty  of  time  to  work  them 
over  in  their  exile.  These  were  evidently  in  dis- 
order and  confusion  and  were  not  duly  labelled; 
there  was  lack  of  skill  in  arranging  and  editing 
them,  and  the  process  w^as  not  completed  until 
long  after.  It  was  then  that  the  tales  of  the 
Judges  were  connected  together  with  links  of 
theocratic  doctrine,  and  the  books  of  Samuel  and 
Kings  were  revised  in  the  light  of  what  had  hap- 
pened in  the  eventful  period  since  David  and 
Solomon.  The  utterances  of  the  great  prophets 
Isaiah  and  Jeremiah,  which  were  so  indissolubly 
associated  with  the  events  of  the  most  critical  part 
of  that  history,  were  unskilfully  arranged,  inter- 
larded with  other  material  and  so  adapted  as  to 
be  justified  by  the  consequences  that  they  fore- 
shadowed; but  they  were  left  open  to  later  en- 
largement and  recension,  when  there  was  hope 
that  the  promise  of  redemption  for  the  nation 
and  the  establishment  of  an  everlasting  kingdom 
under  a  scion  of  the  house  of  David  was  to  be 
fulfilled. 

There  was  more  literary  activity  in  the  time  of 


194    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

the  exile  than  ever  before,  but  It  was  concentrated 
In  the  community  of  captives  and  wrought  largely 
from  material  of  the  past.  But  one  great  work 
there  was  to  link  the  past  with  the  future  In  the 
epic  progress  of  the  peculiar  people.  Among 
those  carried  away  with  JehoIachIn  was  a  priest 
named  Ezeklel,  who  became  a  prophet  among  the 
exiles.  He  appears  to  have  done  his  own  writing 
with  systematic  care,  and  It  was  preserved  with 
little  mutilation  or  revision  until  securely  em- 
balmed In  the  literature  that  was  finally  conse- 
crated against  further  change.  It  Is  peculiarly 
Interesting,  not  only  for  Its  reflection  of  the  past 
and  Its  foreshadowing  of  the  future,  and  its  own 
Isolation  In  both  time  and  place  from  the  cur- 
rent of  Jewish  life,  but  as  an  example  of  the 
prophetic  method  in  Its  extreme  development. 
It  requires  only  a  reasonable  freedom  from  tradi- 
tional prepossessions  and  a  moderate  exercise  of 
common  sense  to  see  in  the  "  Book  of  the  Prophet 
Ezeklel "  a  very  human  and  artfully  wrought 
literary  production.  It  contains  the  germs  of  the 
apocalyptic  style  of  a  later  time  and  of  the  ful- 
ler development  of  the  Jewish  law.  In  Its  vi- 
sions and  symbolism  and  Its  reproductions  of  the 
words  of  "  the  Lord,"  It  Is  no  more  to  be  taken 
In  a  literal  sense  than  the  scenes  of  Greek  tragedy 
or  the  imaginings  of  Dante  or  Bunyan. 

Just  when  this  book  was  written  and  how  long 
it  occupied  the  author  are  matters  of  mere  con- 


LATER  PROPHETS  195 

jecture,  but  its  character  indicates  a  continuous 
work  undertaken  after  the  events  which  are  viewed 
in  retrospect  with  a  prophetic  eye.  Now  and 
again  the  writer  gives  an  impression  of  actuality 
by  fixing  specific  dates  for  his  vision  or  the  com- 
ing to  him  of  the  "  word  of  the  Lord,"  but  that 
was  part  of  his  art.  In  one  place,  when  speaking 
of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  as  a  coming  event,  he 
makes  a  distinrt  allusion  to  the  blindness  of  Zede- 
kiah  after  he  was  carried  to  Babylon.  These 
dates  are  reckoned  from  the  first  deportation, 
when  the  prophet  himself  was  carried  away  with 
Jehoiachin,  and  it  may  be  that  the  "  thirtieth 
year  "  referred  to  in  the  first  verse,  which  has  been 
a  puzzle  to  students,  was  that  in  which  the  writing 
was  completed,  for  it  is  detached  from  what  im- 
mediately follows,  where  Ezekiel  the  priest  is 
spoken  of  in  the  third  person.  It  was  apparently 
prefixed  when  the  work  was  finished. 

The  vision  of  God  which  is  so  elaborately  de- 
scribed, as  a  prelude  to  prophecy,  is  so  obviously 
Imaginary  as  not  to  be  seriously  discussed  as  any- 
thing else.  Never  was  there  such  a  deity 
mounted  in  such  a  chariot,  designed  after  the 
manner  of  Babylonian  art,  and  there  never  was 
such  a  vision  except  in  the  waking  dreams  of  an 
imaginative  writer;  but  it  was  an  effective  device 
for  introducing  the  commission  of  the  prophet,  as 
he  conceived  it  to  be,  as  the  Lord's  watchman 
unto  the  house  of  Israel  in  its  days  of  exile.     He 


196    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

was  to  remind  that  "  house  "  of  the  evil  record 
which  had  brought  It  to  desolation  and  ruin  and 
left  It  In  humiliation  and  despair,  and  then  to 
cheer  it  with  hopes  of  restoration  and  greatness 
yet  to  come,  if  it  returned  to  its  allegiance  to  the 
God  of  Jacob,  submitted  to  his  authority  and 
obeyed  his  law.  That  God  was  their  ruler, 
against  whom  they  had  basely  rebelled,  and  he 
sought  to  be  their  ruler  again  and  would  joyfully 
gather  them  from  among  the  nations  and  es- 
tablish a  righteous  and  benign  kingdom  with  a 
prince  after  his  own  heart  on  Mount  ZIon,  when 
they  had  been  purified  by  chastisement. 

So  the  prophet  goes  back  In  imagination  to  the 
siege,  when  Jerusalem  was  beset  by  the  army  of 
Nebuchadrezzar  and  reduced  to  famine  and  dire 
distress.  The  puerile  symbolism  with  which  that 
dreadful  time  was  recalled  was  not  a  spiritual  or 
divine  suggestion,  nor  is  it  at  all  likely  that  it  was 
a  reality  to  the  writer.  It  was  simply  a  means 
of  impressing  simpler  minds,  like  the  exaggerated 
language  in  which  slaughter  by  famine,  pestilence 
and  sword  as  the  weapons  of  a  wrathful  deity,  is 
depicted.  No  more  likely  is  it  that  the  denuncia- 
tion of  the  mountains  and  valleys  of  Israel  and 
the  threats  of  ruin  and  desolation  for  the  idolatry 
of  which  they  had  been  the  scene,  or  the  picture 
of  terror  and  dismay  when  the  anger  of  the  Lord 
was  vented  upon  the  sinful  land,  was  accompanied 
by  the  Instructions  and  the  symbolical  actions  de- 


LATER  PROPHETS  197 

scribed.  Like  the  visions,  these  are  features  of 
the  literary  art  of  this  graphic  composition. 

Having  placed  these  preliminary  sketches  of 
the  siege,  Its  causes,  Its  Incidents  and  Its  conse- 
quences on  the  fifth  day  of  the  fourth  (  ?)  month 
of  the  "  fifth  year  of  King  Jehoiachin's  captiv- 
ity," the  writer  sets  the  fifth  day  of  the  sixth 
month  of  the  sixth  year  for  a  vision  of  Jerusalem 
In  her  "  great  abominations  "  which  had  brought 
such  a  fate  upon  her.  Again  there  is  the  ap- 
pearance of  that  flaming  deity  of  the  river  Chebar, 
which  put  forth  a  hand  and  lifted  the  prophet  by 
a  lock  of  his  hair  between  earth  and  heaven  and 
brought  him  in  visions  of  God  to  Jerusalem. 
There  he  showed  him  what  was  going  on,  and  ex- 
posed the  wicked  counsel  of  the  princes  of  the 
people  and  its  consequences.  The  author  betrays 
his  own  point  of  view  as  he  closes  this  scene  with 
a  promise  of  the  Lord  that  he  would  be  a  sanc- 
tuary for  his  people  for  a  little  while  "  in  the 
countries  where  they  are  come,"  and  would  gather 
them  out  of  the  lands  In  which  they  had  been 
scattered,  take  away  their  detestable  things  and 
make  them  walk  In  his  statutes. 

Transported  again  *'  In  the  vision  by  the  spirit 
of  God  into  Chaldea  to  them  of  the  captivity," 
the  prophet  symbolises  the  flight  from  the  be- 
leaguered city  as  a  moving  In  haste  from  one's 
habitation,  the  captivity  as  a  taking  In  of  a  net 
spread  by  the  Lord,  and  the  assurances  of  the 


198     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

false  prophets  as  a  worthless  wall  of  protection 
daubed  with  "  untempered  mortar."  There  are 
some  reflections  upon  the  follies  of  the  daughters 
of  the  people,  some  rebuke  of  the  elders  of  Is- 
rael for  cherishing  Idols  In  the  heart,  and  a  solemn 
assurance  that  a  place  could  not  be  saved  by  the 
righteousness  of  the  few,  even  though  they  were 
Noah,  Daniel  and  Job;  and  then  Jerusalem  is 
likened  to  a  vine  that  is  cast  into  the  fire. 

There  is  an  extreme  case  of  that  gross  sym- 
bolism which  represented  infidelity  to  the  God  of 
Israel  as  "  whoredom."  Jerusalem  was  the 
bastard  offspring  of  the  Amorlte  and  the  Hittlte, 
cast  out  in  an  open  field  to  welter  in  its  blood. 
The  Lord  had  taken  it  up  and  cherished  it  into 
beauty,  fed  it  upon  dainties  and  decked  it  with 
ornaments,  and  after  he  had  lavished  upon  it 
divine  love  and  affection  it  had  played  the  harlot. 
The  picture  of  its  lewdness  and  of  the  penalty  of 
its  shameless  behaviour  is  graphic  but  not  delicate. 
Jerusalem  is  made  even  worse  than  her  wanton 
sister  Samaria  and  the  equal  of  the  despised  sister 
Sodom,  and  yet  the  Lord's  convenant  with  her  in 
her  youth  would  be  remembered  and  would  be 
established  as  an  everlasting  covenant,  when  she 
had  become  duly  ashamed  and  confounded;  and 
those  reclaimed  sisters  would  be  given  to  her  as 
daughters. 

Here  is  a  picture  of  the  King  of  Babylon  and 
the  King  of  Egypt  as  two  great  eagles  between 


LATER  PROPHETS  199 

which  grew  a  spreading  vine  of  low  stature,  and 
as  it  bent  its  roots  and  shot  its  branches  towards 
the  eagle  of  Egypt  it  was  plucked  up  and  carried 
away.  This  symbolised  the  revolt  of  Zedekiah 
and  the  attempt  to  get  support  from  Egypt,  which 
led  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  Of  course 
it  was  the  Lord  that  did  it,  and  he  would  take 
a  tender  twig  from  the  topmost  ones  of  the  great 
cedar,  which  the  eagle  had  cropped  off  and  car- 
ried away,  and  would  plant  it  in  the  mountain  of 
the  height  of  Israel  and  make  it  a  goodly  cedar 
under  which  should  dwell  "  all  fowl  of  every 
wing." 

After  this  follows  a  didactic  chapter  which 
is  not  significant  so  much  for  the  contradiction 
of  the  popular  proverb  **  The  fathers  have 
eaten  sour  grapes  and  the  children's  teeth  are 
set  on  edge,"  as  for  its  subversion  of  the  more 
solemn  assertion  of  the  old  law  that  Israel's 
jealous  God  would  visit  the  Iniquity  of  the 
fathers  upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and 
fourth  generation.  Following  this  Is  another 
symbolic  picture  of  the  last  kings  of  Judah  as 
young  lions,  one  of  which  was  caught  and  car- 
ried away  to  Egypt  and  another  was  put  In  a 
cage  and  brought  to  Babylon.  The  mother,  who 
had  been  called  a  lioness,  is  then  likened  to  a  vine 
that  had  been  planted  by  the  waters  and  became 
fruitful  with  many  branches,  but  was  plucked  up 
in  fury,   cast  to  the  ground,  her   fruit  dried  up 


200    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

by  the  east  wind,  her  rods  that  were  for  sceptres 
broken  and  consumed  with  fire,  and  finally  the 
vine  was  planted  in  a  dry  and  thirsty  land.  "  This 
is  a  lamentation  and  shall  be  for  a  lamentation." 

Again  there  is  a  date,  the  tenth  day  of  the 
fifth  month  of  the  seventh  year,  and  the  coming 
of  the  elders  to  inquire  of  the  prophet  is  made 
the  occasion  of  a  discourse  of  judgment  upon  these 
elders.  The  character  of  this  shows  that  it  was 
not  an  actual  discourse  addressed  as  the  words 
of  the  Lord  to  a  real  gathering  of  elders.  It  is 
a  composition  representing  the  writer  as  being 
made  a  judge  of  the  elders  of  Israel  In  general, 
and  recalling  again  with  a  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord," 
the  derelictions  of  the  past,  even  from  the  time 
when  the  Lord  chose  Israel  and  made  himself 
known  to  them  In  the  land  of  Egypt,  throughout 
their  history.  They  are  represented  as  having 
been  given  to  Idolatry  until  the  Lord  would  no 
longer  be  inquired  of  by  them;  but  after  being 
purged  of  their  transgressions  they  would  again 
be  brought  Into  "  the  bond  of  the  covenant." 
All  the  house  of  Israel  would  yet  serve  the  Lord 
in  his  holy  mountain,  and  he  would  be  sanctified 
In  them  in  the  sight  of  the  nations. 

There  Is  some  question  whether  this  promise 
of  restoration  Is  not  an  interpolation  of  a  later 
time  than  the  original  composition.  At  all  events, 
it  Is  Immediately  followed  by  another  passage  of 
fierce  menace  and  another  picture  of  the  crush- 


LATER  PROPHETS  201 

ing  blow  from  the  "  sword  of  the  King  of  Baby- 
lon." Again  the  prophet  Is  bidden  to  denounce 
judgment  upon  the  bloody  city.  The  house  of 
Israel  has  become  dross  which  was  to  be  purged 
from  the  pure  silver  by  the  fires  of  affliction  and 
calamity.  There  was  a  conspiracy  of  prophets 
and  profanation  by  priests;  the  princes  were 
ravening  wolves  of  prey  and  the  people  used  op- 
pression and  exercised  robbery;  therefore  the 
Lord  had  poured  forth  his  Indignation  upon 
them  and  consumed  them  with  the  fire  of  his 
wrath. 

The  symbol  of  harlotry  Is  used  again  In  gross 
but  vivid  form  and  applied  to  Samaria  and  Jeru- 
salem under  the  names  of  Oholah  and  Oholibah. 
Their  lives  are  made  the  Instruments  of  their 
humiliation  and  shame,  and  they  should  be  made 
to  know  that  "  I  am  the  Lord  God."  Again 
there  Is  a  reversion  to  the  siege  of  Jerusalem, 
and  the  ninth  year,  the  tenth  month  and  the 
tenth  day  of  the  month,  is  set  down  as  the  self- 
same day  in  which  the  king  of  Babylon  drew 
close  to  the  city,  which  is  symbolised  as  a  caldron. 
In  It  was  to  boil  the  fury  of  the  Lord  to  purge 
It  of  its  filthiness.  It  may  be  that  the  prophet 
lost  his  wife  by  death,  and  It  may  be  that  he 
made  use  of  this  as  a  symbol  of  the  bereave- 
ment of  Jerusalem  for  which  there  was  to  be  no 
mourning,  but  we  are  not  called  upon  to  believe 
that  the  Lord  told  him  that  he  would  take  away 


202    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

"  the  desire  of  his  eyes  "  and  forbade  him  to 
mourn  in  order  to  furnish  the  symbol. 

The  part  of  the  Book  of  Ezekiel,  up  to  this 
point,  constituting  just  one-half  of  its  chapters,  as 
it  is  now  divided,  is  in  the  nature  of  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  rest.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  it  was  written  consecutively.  Its  parts  are 
somewhat  disconnected  and  there  were  probably 
separate  visions,  symbolical  representations,  de- 
scriptions and  discourses,  which  were  finally  ar- 
ranged, but  not  closely  welded  together,  as  a  back- 
ground for  what  was  to  relate  to  the  future.  Sins 
of  Israel  and  the  culminating  offences  of  Jeru- 
salem having  been  fully  portrayed  and  denounced, 
and  the  retribution  brought  upon  them  having 
been  depicted,  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  as 
was  the  way  with  prophets,  doom  was  pro- 
nounced upon  the  tempters  and  enemies  who  had 
brought  woe  upon  God's  people  or  who  rejoiced 
In  their  downfall. 

This  begins  in  a  brief  way  with  their  immediate 
neighbours,  Ammon,  Moab,  Edom  and  Philistia, 
upon  whom  the  Lord  would  execute  vengeance 
with  furious  rebukes.  It  is  elaborated  in  pictur- 
esque fashion  against  Tyre,  the  great  trafficker 
among  the  nations.  The  Lord  would  bring 
Nebuchadrezzar,  the  Instrument  of  his  wrath, 
with  horses  and  chariots,  and  the  isles  would 
shake  with  the  sound  of  its  fall.  The  prince  of 
Tyre  Is   denounced  In  words   addressed   directly 


LATER  PROPHETS  203 

to  him  at  the  bidding  of  the  Lord,  and  there  is 
lamentation  over  the  fate  of  that  proud  potentate, 
brought  upon  him  in  his  "  beauty "  and  his 
"  brightness  "  for  the  multitude  of  his  iniquities 
and  the  unrighteousness  of  his  traffic.  There  is 
a  brief  pendant  of  doom  for  Zidon,  upon  which 
pestilence  and  blood  in  her  streets  were  to  be  sent, 
that  she  might  no  more  be  a  "  pricking  brier  unto 
the  house  of  Israel." 

Then  the  voice  of  wrath  Is  turned  *'  In  the 
tenth  year,  in  the  tenth  month.  In  the  twelfth  day 
of  the  month,"  upon  the  chief  offender  against  the 
Lord  and  his  people,  Egypt,  the  "  great  dragon 
that  lieth  in  the  midst  of  his  rivers."  It  is  to 
be  given  as  a  spoil  and  a  reward  to  Nebuchad- 
rezzar, king  of  Babylon.  It  would  be  made  an 
"  utter  waste  and  desolation  "  and  would  be  un- 
inhabited for  forty  years,  after  which  Its  people 
would  be  gathered  "  from  the  peoples  whither 
they  were  scattered,"  and  the  Lord  would  "  bring 
again  the  captivity  of  Egypt."  Many  resounding 
reverberations  are  played  upon  this  theme,  ending 
with  dithyrambic  wails  for  the  multitude  sent 
down  to  the  underworld  to  lie  with  other  multi- 
tudes of  the  unclrcumclsed.  Nobody  can  deny 
the  epic  grandeur  of  these  scenes  of  woe  for  those 
who  had  scorned  Israel  and  defied  her  God,  but 
nobody  can  reasonably  claim  for  them  a  historical 
character  or  any  approach  to  a  fulfilment  of  the 
dire  predictions.     As  they  were  never  revised  or 


204    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

adapted  to  events  by  a  later  hand,  they  accord 
with  nothing  in  subsequent  history.  They  were 
utterances  of  the  prophet  attributed  to  the  God 
whom  he  imagined  and  in  whom  he  devoutly  be- 
lieved. Perhaps  he  thought  he  was  inspired  by 
that  God  to  give  utterance  to  his  purposes,  for 
that  has  been  the  belief  of  many  a  prophet  and 
preacher  before  and  since. 

Having  thus  unburdened  himself  against  the 
foreign  enemies  of  Israel,  the  prophet  turns  his 
face  to  the  future  of  his  own  people  and  the 
Lord's  purpose  of  restoring  them  after  due  re- 
pentance and  amendment.  The  Lord  makes 
him  his  watchman  with  a  trumpet  to  warn  his  peo- 
ple, and  tells  him  of  his  responsibility  as  such 
and  the  individual  responsibility  for  their  deeds 
of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked.  He  is  to  de- 
nounce the  false  shepherds  of  Israel  who  were  the 
cause  of  their  going  astray  and  being  scattered, 
who  instead  of  feeding  and  caring  for  them  had 
fed  upon  their  substance.  But  the  Lord  would 
gather  his  flock  and  would  judge  between  them. 
He  would  destroy  the  fat  and  strong  and  would 
set  one  shepherd  over  the  rescued  ones,  "  even  my 
servant  David."  He  would  make  with  them  a 
covenant  of  peace  and  cause  evil  hearts  to  cease 
out  of  the  land.  Here  perhaps,  is  the  first  fore- 
shadowing of  that  Messianic  hope  which  so  long 
lured  the  sons  of  Israel  through  afflictions  yet  to 
come,  and  which  looked  to  a  restoration  of  the 


LATER  PROPHETS  205 

glories  of  David  under  a  prince  of  peace  and 
righteousness  whose  dominion  was  to  be  everlast- 
ing. 

Next  a  strong  contrast  is  presented  by  uttering 
anew  the  threats  of  wrath  and  vengeance  upon 
Mount  Seir  and  the  land  of  Edom  and  follow- 
ing them  with  prophecies  of  beneficence  to  the 
mountains  of  Israel,  when  a  purified  people 
should  be  restored.  This  was  to  be  done  not 
for  the  sake  of  the  people  but  for  the  vindica- 
tion of  the  Lord  himself  and  the  holy  name  which 
they  had  profaned  among  the  nations.  But  to 
that  end  he  would  cleanse  them  and  put  a  new 
heart  in  them,  and  the  desolate  land  should  be- 
come as  the  garden  of  Eden,  that  the  nations 
might  know  that  the  Lord  had  done  it.  The 
waste  cities  should  be  filled  with  flocks  of  men 
and  "  they  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord." 

The  revival  and  restoration  of  the  people  is 
vividly  symbolised  In  the  vision  of  the  valley  of 
dry  bones,  where  naked  skeletons  are  brought 
together,  clothed  with  flesh  and  breathed  into  life 
by  the  breath  of  the  Lord.  The  symbolism  Is 
made  plain  by  the  saying  of  Israel:  "  Our  bones 
are  dried  up  and  our  hope  is  lost,"  and  the  re- 
ply: "Behold,  I  will  open  your  graves,  and 
cause  you  to  come  out  of  your  graves,  O  my 
people,  and  I  will  bring  you  Into  the  land  of 
Israel."  By  the  less  dignified  symbolism  of  the 
two  sticks  It  Is  promised  that  Joseph  as  well  as 


2o6    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

Judah  shall  be  gathered  from  among  the  nations 
and  they  shall  become  one  people  in  the  land  of 
Jacob,  where  "  David  my  servant  shall  be  their 
prince  forever." 

One  more  symbolical  vision  completes  the  prep- 
aration for  the  restored  kingdom  and  the  reign 
of  the  law  of  the  Lord.  The  enemies  of  Israel 
are  figured  as  Gog  of  the  land  of  Magog. 
There  is  neither  history  nor  geography  in  this, 
and  efforts  to  give  it  reality  are  as  puerile  as  an 
attempt  to  make  reality  of  the  scenes  and  charac- 
ters in  the  poetic  visions  of  Milton,  or  the  stories 
of  Gulliver.  It  is  the  enemies  of  Israel  that 
menace  the  kingdom  that  is  to  come,  who  are  to 
come  up  against  the  mountains  of  Israel  and  en- 
counter the  wrath  of  the  Lord,  whose  fury  would 
come  into  his  nostrils.  He  would  plead  against 
Gog  "  with  pestilence  and  with  blood,"  and  rain 
upon  him  and  his  hordes  an  "  overflowing  shower, 
and  great  hailstones,  fire  and  brimstone."  Gog 
should  have  a  place  for  burial  in  Israel,  "  the  val- 
ley of  them  that  pass  through  on  the  East  of  the 
sea."  The  house  of  Israel  would  be  seven  months 
in  burying  him  and  his  multitude,  "  that  they  may 
cleanse  the  land."  There  would  be  a  great  sacri- 
fice upon  the  mountains  of  Israel  and  birds  of 
prey  would  be  sated  with  flesh  and  blood.  The 
Lord  would  set  his  glory  among  the  nations  and 
they  should  see  the  judgment  that  he  executed. 
Then  would  the  house  of  Israel  know  that  the 


LATER  PROPHETS  207 

Lord  was  their  God,  that  he  caused  them  to  go 
into  captivity  and  gathered  them  again  Into  their 
own  land.  He  would  leave  none  of  them  any 
more  among  the  nations;  neither  would  he  hide 
his  face  from  them,  "  for  I  have  poured  out  my 
spirit  upon  the  house  of  Israel,  saith  the  Lord." 
How  far  was  this  fervent  hope  of  the  exiled 
prophet,  which  he  transformed  Into  a  promise  of 
the  Lord  the  God  of  Israel,  ever  realised? 

Now  he  was  prepared  for  a  vision  of  the  Jeru- 
salem that  was  to  be,  and  he  says  that  *'  In  the 
five  and  twentieth  year  of  our  captivity.  In  the 
beginning  of  the  year,  in  the  tenth  day  of  the 
month,  in  the  fourteenth  year  after  that  City  was 
smitten,"  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  upon  him 
and  that  It  transported  him  thither  and  set  him 
on  a  very  high  mountain.  Then  he  sets  forth  an 
Idealistic  plan  of  the  restored  temple  and  its 
courts,  and  the  restored  city  and  Its  sanctified  en- 
vironment, with  formal  measurements  and  ar- 
rangements. He  Is  brought  to  the  gate  which 
looketh  toward  the  East  and  beholds  the  glory 
of  the  Lord  coming  from  that  direction,  like  the 
vision  that  he  saw  by  the  river  Chebar.  It  en- 
ters into  the  house  by  the  Eastern  gate  and  the 
prophet  Is  brought  Into  the  court  and  sees  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  that  fills  the  place.  He  hears 
a  voice  speaking  to  him  out  of  the  house,  as  a  man 
stands  by  him,  saying:  "  This  Is  the  place  of  my 
throne,   and  the  place  of  the  soles  of  my  feet 


208     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

where  I  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  the  children  of 
Israel  forever."  And  he  is  bidden  to  write  the 
ordinances  and  the  laws  of  the  Lord's  house. 
These  are  set  forth  in  what  became  the  broad 
outlines  for  the  Levitical  system  of  a  later  time. 
Then  in  symbolic  fashion  is  pictured  the  deepen- 
ing stream  that  was  to  flow  from  that  house  to 
irrigate  and  fructify  the  realm  of  restored  Israel. 
In  a  manner  as  formal  as  the  measurements  of 
the  temple  and  of  the  city  of  Zion,  the  whole  land 
is  divided  and  allotted  among  the  tribes,  and  their 
names  are  fixed  to  the  twelve  gates  of  the  city, 
the  name  of  which  from  that  day  shall  be  "  the 
Lord  is  there." 

Such  was  the  vision  of  the  prophet  in  exile  of 
the  future  of  the  city  toward  which  his  heart 
yearned  and  of  the  people  over  whose  sins  he 
had  sorrowed,  but  whom  the  Lord  had  chastened 
and  purified  and  would  redeem  and  bring  to 
greater  glory  than  they  had  ever  dreamed  of. 
His  promises  would  yet  be  fulfilled  in  abundant 
measure  under  the  everlasting  rule  of  the  house 
of  David,  as  the  direct  servant  of  the  Lord  and 
prince  of  righteousness  and  peace.  How  long 
the  prophet  lived  after  bequeathing  the  heritage 
of  his  visions  and  prophecies  to  sustain  the  hearts 
of  the  captives,  there  is  no  record.  He  is  not 
spoken  of  outside  of  the  book  that  bears  his  name. 
Those  long  cherished  hopes  were  doomed  to  more 
bitter  disappointments  as  time  went  on  and  Israel 


LATER  PROPHETS  209 

passed  from  the  yoke  of  Babylon  to  that  of  Persia 
and  then  to  that  of  Greece,  and  after  a  tumultuous 
insurrection  and  a  short-lived  dynasty  outside  of 
the  line  of  David,  to  the  firm  grasp  of  the  Roman 
power. 

Apparently  Ezeklel  had  no  intimation  of  the 
release  that  was  to  come  from  the  conquests  of 
Cyrus  of  Persia,  who  followed  the  subjugation 
of  Media  and  Lydia  with  an  attack  upon  Baby- 
lonia which  resulted  in  the  fall  of  the  proud 
capital  of  that  realm  in  539  B.  C.  But  as  soon 
as  that  release  was  assured  an  exultant  voice  arose 
from  among  the  exiles,  or,  to  put  it  more  literally, 
a  rhapsody  was  composed  and  doubtless  circu- 
lated among  them,  to  find  its  place  afterwards  in 
the  epic  literature  and  to  be  wrongly  attached  to 
the  collection  of  oracles  bearing  the  name  of 
Isaiah.  The  last  twenty-seven  chapters  of  the 
book  to  which  that  name  is  attached  constitute  a 
collection,  partly  exilic  and  partly  post-exilic,  com- 
posed of  three  distinct  sections.  The  first  of 
these,  consisting  of  nine  chapters  (xl  to  xlvlii  of 
the  present  Book  of  Isaiah),  emanated  from  a 
poetical  genius  of  great  power,  whose  name  was 
left  in  oblivion,  though  his  work  was  destined 
to  live  as  long  as  mankind  had  memory  for  past 
achievements  and  love  of  ancient  literature. 

The  author  of  this  sublime  passage  seems  to 
have  had  his  hopes  aroused,  through  his  confidence 
in  the  watchfulness  of  Israel's  God  over  his  cap- 


2IO     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

tive  people  and  in  the  certainty  of  their  rescue, 
even  before  Cyrus  had  possession  of  Babylon  and 
the  edict  of  release  for  the  Jews  was  issued.  He 
begins  with  a  message  of  comfort  to  Jerusalem 
because  the  Lord  is  coming  to  her  again  from  the 
East,  with  double  recompense  for  all  that  she  has 
suffered  for  her  sins.  A  voice  in  the  wilderness 
cries  out  for  preparing  the  way  for  him,  and  the 
tidings  of  his  coming  are  passed  on  from  the 
mountain  tops  to  Zion,  with  promise  that  he  will 
feed  his  flock  again  like  a  shepherd.  There  is  no 
reference  to  any  prophet  or  to  the  coming  of  the 
word  of  the  Lord  to  any  one,  but  the  writer  in 
imagination  utters  the  voice,  sometimes  in  his  own 
person  as  the  oracle  of  God,  sometimes  in  the  first 
person  as  the  voice  of  God  himself,  sometimes 
in  the  character  of  Zion's  waiting  people  or  of 
the  city  of  their  longing.  The  conception  of  the 
deity  has  changed  to  conform  with  the  changed 
conditions  of  the  time,  the  subdued  temper  of  the 
people  and  the  hopeful  attitude  of  the  writer. 
He  does  not  forget  the  sins  of  his  people,  but 
they  have  been  chastened  and  purified,  their  war- 
fare is  accomplished,  their  iniquity  is  pardoned; 
his  love  for  them  has  returned,  and  he  will  fulfil 
his  ancient  promise  with  added  glory.  It  is  he 
that  has  made  Cyrus  his  anointed  servant  to  re- 
lease the  captives  and  send  them  home  in  triumph, 
not  t;heir  own  but  that  of  the  Lord,  that  the 
nations  may  acknowledge  his  greatness. 


LATER  PROPHETS  211 

His  might  Is  set  forth  with  a  splendour  of 
diction  equalled  only  by  that  of  the  Book  of  Job, 
and  his  greatness  Is  described  In  his  own  words 
in  a  grandiose  manner  that  would  only  befit  a 
deity  In  comparison  with  whom  all  other  gods 
were  senseless  idols.  It  was  the  Almighty  God 
of  Israel  who  was  using  Cyrus  as  his  unconscious 
Instrument,  and  he  would  redeem  his  own  blind 
and  helpless  servant,  the  "  worm  Jacob,"  and 
make  him  a  power  to  beat  down  the  nations.  In 
himself  this  servant  was  feeble.  He  would  not 
lift  up  his  voice,  he  would  not  break  a  bruised 
reed  or  quench  smoking  flax,  and  yet  he  would 
become  a  covenant  of  the  people  and  a  light  to 
the  Gentiles  for  which  the  Lord  would  have  the 
praise  and  glory.  He  had  given  Jacob  for  a 
spoil  and  Israel  to  the  robbers  in  the  fury  of 
his  anger,  but  he  had  redeemed  him  and  given 
nations  for  his  ransom.  For  his  sake  he  had 
brought  down  the  nobles  of  Babylon,  and  for  his 
chosen  people  he  would  make  rivers  In  the  desert. 

There  Is  reiteration  and  variation  In  the  glorious 
theme  of  Israel's  rescue  and  coming  restoration 
to  Zion,  through  which  the  voice  of  Yahweh  Is 
made  to  roll  in  resounding  accents  of  self-glori- 
fication. In  reality  It  is  the  reawakened  voice  of 
Israel's  pride  of  race,  its  sense  of  superiority  and 
its  faith  In  the  God  which  it  had  conceived  from 
the  depths  of  a  genius  that  had  no  rival  in  the 
early  time.     After  promise  of  reward  to  Cyrus, 


212     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

a  picture  of  humiliation  for  the  "  virgin  daugh- 
ter," Babylon,  a  further  magnifying  of  the  great 
and  only  God,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  a  reminder 
of  what  his  people  might  have  been  if  they  had 
hearkened  to  his  commandments,  this  prophetic 
voice  which  rose  from  among  the  exiles  with  such 
splendid,  incoherent  rapture,  bids  them  flee  from 
the  Chaldeans  and  declare  to  the  end  of  the  earth 
"  the  Lord  hath  redeemed  his  servant  Jacob." 

But  they  did  not  flee  at  once  and  the  way  was 
not  made  easy  for  them.  Very  earthly  obstacles 
and  difficulties  beset  the  efforts  of  those  who 
strove  to  organise  for  the  return.  The  next  seven 
chapters  of  this  collection  were  undoubtedly  from 
a  different  source  and  of  later  production,  but 
scholars  seem  to  be  agreed  that  the  main  sub- 
stance of  them  proceeded  from  the  community  at 
Babylon  before  the  departure  began  under  Zerub- 
babel,  the  survivor  of  the  line  of  David,  and  the 
priest  Jeshua,  after  the  decree  of  Cyrus,  In  538 
B.  C.  This  passage  as  a  whole  Is  pitched  In  a 
lower  tone  than  what  precedes,  but  it  breaks  out 
here  and  there  with  a  similar  fervid  eloquence. 
It  has  the  appearance  of  a  composite  structure 
made  up  of  varied  material,  much  of  it  poetical  in 
form.  Its  leading  characteristic  Is  a  rather  ob- 
scure personification  of  redeemed  Israel  as  the 
"  servant  of  Yahweh,"  who  has  been  through  trial 
and  affliction  for  transgressions  of  those  who  owe 
their  redemption  to  him.     This  kind  of  personi- 


LATER  PROPHETS  213 

ficatlon  of  the  people  Is  characteristic  of  the  an- 
cient Hebrew  writing  throughout.  All  mankind 
was  personified  in  Adam.  The  whole  Semitic 
people  of  Western  Asia  were  personified  in  Abra- 
ham. The  people  of  Israel  were  personified  in 
Jacob,  and  all  their  divisions,  tribal  or  territorial, 
were  personified  in  his  sons.  There  seems  to  be 
no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  writer  had  any  In- 
dividual in  mind  in  describing  the  suffering 
servant  of  Yahweh.  If,  as  some  have  thought, 
this  was  so,  it  is  impossible  to  identify  the  person, 
and  It  is  certain  that  there  was  no  foreshadowing 
of  any  being  that  was  to  come  in  future  genera- 
tions. 

The  passage  begins  with  this  servant,  in  whom 
the  Lord  is  to  be  glorified,  speaking  in  the  first 
person  and  calling  the  peoples  to  witness.  He  Is 
then  made  to  utter  the  promise  of  the  Lord  to 
afflicted  and  mourning  Zion,  telling  her  that  he 
had  never  been  divorced  from  her  mother  nor 
had  he  sold  her  as  a  slave  to  his  creditors.  The 
servant  had  meekly  borne  his  chastisement  and 
the  Lord  would  justify  him  and  destroy  his  ad- 
versary. The  voice  of  Yahweh  (the  Lord) 
himself  is  invoked  to  declare  his  promise  and  as- 
sert his  power  to  fulfil.  The  earth  might  wax 
old  as  a  garment  but  his  salvation  would  be  for- 
ever. Other  voices  are  made  to  invoke  his  might 
and  to  call  upon  Jerusalem  to  awake  to  a  new 
destiny,  for  the  cup  of  the  Lord's  fury  Is  taken 


214    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

away.  She  may  shake  off  the  dust  of  her  hu- 
mihation,  loosen  the  bands  of  captivity  from  her 
neck,  and  put  on  her  beautiful  garments.  Mes- 
sengers with  feet  of  beauty  on  the  mountains 
bring  tidings  of  joy;  watchmen  hail  them  with 
songs  of  comfort  and  triumph,  and  bid  the  cap- 
tives to  go  forth,  with  the  God  of  Israel  in  the 
van  and  in  the  rear  to  guard  them. 

That  servant  that  has  suffered  so  much  and 
has  been  so  afflicted  shall  prosper  and  be  exalted, 
though  his  visage  is  so  marred  by  what  he  has 
been  through.  The  poetical  description  of  him 
as  one  who  grew  up  as  a  tender  plant  from  dry 
ground,  as  having  been  deprived  of  all  comeli- 
ness, despised  and  rejected,  a  man  of  sorrows, 
who  has  borne  the  griefs  of  the  whole  people 
and  been  wounded  for  their  transgressions,  etc.,  is 
believed  to  be  a  later  interpolation,  but  it  surely 
refers  to  that  righteous  part  of  Israel  which  had 
lived  through  all  the  trials,  and  caused  the  re- 
demption of  the  remnant,  and  to  whom  the  Lord 
would  yet  divide  a  portion  with  the  great  and  a 
spoil  with  the  strong.  That  song,  over  which  so 
much  puzzled  learning  has  been  expended,  inter- 
rupts the  course  of  the  songs  of  joy  and  comfort 
and  of  promise  of  triumph  yet  to  come  for  Zion, 
when  it  should  become  the  refuge  of  the  right- 
eous from  all  nations  and  the  Lord  should  be  Its 
ruler.  In  all  this  was  expressed  the  ardent  hope 
of  the  captive  people  at  the  prospect  of  release 


LATER  PROPHETS  215 

and  that  Invincible  reliance  of  their  leading  minds 
upon  the  God  who  embodied  all  that  was  great- 
est and  highest  in  their  religious  conceptions,  and 
who  was  peculiarly  theirs  and  would  ultimately 
bring  all  the  world  Into  subjection  to  them. 

There  Is  a  drop  from  this  height  in  the  last 
eleven  chapters,  which  In  the  redaction  and  ar- 
rangement of  this  material  became  attached  with 
the  rest  to  the  book  to  which  the  name  of  the 
prophet  Isaiah  had  been  given,  and  It  Is  a  drop 
into  another  century  and  a  different  time.  The 
captives  that  were  led  back  by  Zerubbabel  and 
Jeshua  had  been  through  their  struggle  for  re- 
building the  temple  and  rehabilitating  Jerusalem, 
with  much  discouragement  after  the  high  hopes 
of  the  return.  Many  years  later  the  priest  Ezra, 
who  had  remained  with  other  priests  and  scribes 
working  up  a  new  system  of  laws  for  restored 
Judaism,  had  brought  over  an  Important  con- 
tingent, and  after  much  delay  had  promulgated 
the  code  and  had  the  people  swear  fealty  to  it. 
Nehemlah  had  come  from  the  Persian  capital 
with  the  authority  of  the  sovereign  whose  cup- 
bearer he  had  been,  to  complete  the  walls  that 
were  still  half  in  ruins,  and  had  afterwards  been 
made  a  delegate  of  the  Persian  power,  and  al- 
lowed to  reform  the  administration  of  the  Jewish 
community  In  accordance  with  Its  own  religious 
polity.  There  had  been  much  disappointment 
and  the  tendency  to  relapse  was  sometimes  de- 


21 6     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

pressing.  It  is  this  period  under  the  Persian 
sovereignty  that  is  reflected  in  these  chapters, 
which  are  made  up  of  material  that  is  by  no  means 
homogeneous  and  was  either  from  different  sources 
or  substantially  modified  in  editing. 

There  are  appeals  for  observance  of  the  com- 
mands of  the  law  and  rebukes  for  neglect. 
There  are  references  to  lapses  into  idolatry  and 
iniquity,  which  will  be  punished,  and  pleas  for 
righteous  conduct,  which  will  have  its  reward. 
It  is  no  longer  the  nation  as  distinguished  from 
other  nations  that  is  the  object  of  divine  care,  but 
the  righteous  as  distinguished  from  the  wicked. 
But  the  righteous  would  prevail.  The  Lord's 
covenant  would  be  with  them  and  his  word  would 
not  depart  from  them.  A  song  is  introduced 
which  tells  again  of  the  glory  and  greatness  yet 
to  come  to  Zion,  when  the  nations  should  be  at- 
tracted by  its  light  and  come  with  their  gifts  to 
minister  unto  it.  It  should  be  called  the  City  of 
the  Lord  and  draw  sustenance  from  all  nations, 
and  its  officers  should  be  peace  and  its  "  exactors  " 
righteousness.  With  the  familiar  hyperbole  of 
this  kind  of  prophecy,  verging  upon  the  glowing 
apocalyptic  style  that  developed  later,  it  is  said 
that  it  should  not  need  the  light  of  the  sun  and 
moon,  but  the  Lord  would  be  its  everlasting 
light.  All  its  people  should  be  righteous  and 
should  inherit  the  land  forever.  There  is  a  re- 
iteration  of  this  promise  in   a   different   style   in 


LATER  PROPHETS  217 

which  Zion  Is  figured  as  the  bride  of  its  redeemer, 
who  would  rejoice  over  it  as  a  bridegroom.  It 
should  be  called  "  sought  out "  and  not  "  the  cit>' 
forsaken." 

There  is  interjected  once  more  a  picture  of  the 
Lord  in  his  garb  of  war  and  with  his  sword  of 
fury,  but  it  Is  as  an  avenger  of  his  people  against 
their  enemies.  It  is  followed,  as  if  for  contrast, 
by  a  humble  prayer  of  his  people  for  his  loving 
kindness  and  praise  for  his  great  goodness  to  the 
people  of  Israel,  in  which  past  benefits  are  recalled 
and  past  sins  and  punishment  are  mourned  over. 
After  this  is  a  further  judgment  upon  those  that 
forsake  the  Lord  and  blessing  upon  those  who  are 
his  servants  In  righteousness  and  truth,  and  there 
is  ever  the  burden  of  salvation  for  Jerusalem,  the 
time  when  it  should  be  purified  from  evil  and 
freed  from  all  enemies.  All  nations  should 
come  to  see  its  glory  and  send  home  its  sons, 
"  and  It  shall  come  to  pass  that  from  one  new 
moon  to  another  and  from  one  Sabbath  to  an- 
other shall  all  flesh  come  to  worship  before  me, 
saith  the  Lord."  It  was  thus  that  ''  prophets  " 
whose  names  are  unknown  uttered  promises  and 
sustained  struggling  hopes  In  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  while  foreign  powers  one  after  another  held 
his  people  in  subjection,  from  which  they  were  to 
escape  only  to  be  scattered  over  the  earth.  Instead 
of  being  gathered  from  among  the  nations  to 
make  his  holv  city  the  centre  of  a  world's  desire. 


21 8     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

These  last  chapters  attached  to  the  Book  of 
Isaiah  have  carried  us  far  beyond  the  days  of  the 
exile  and  we  have  left  on  the  way  other  prophetic 
writings,  which  should  not  be  passed  without 
notice.  "  The  burden  of  Babylon  "  attributed  to 
the  real  Isaiah  in  chapter  thirteen,  and  fourteen 
to  the  twenty-third  verse,  of  the  same  book,  be- 
long to  the  period  of  chapters  forty  to  forty- 
eight,  and  may  be  from  the  same  hand.  The  first 
ten  verses  of  chapter  twenty-one,  whatever  their 
origin,  are  also  of  that  period,  and  the  same  is 
true  of  the  threats  and  promises  of  chapters 
thirty-four  and  thirty-five,  telling  that  the  ran- 
somed of  the  Lord  are  to  return  to  Zion  "  with 
songs  and  everlasting  joy."  But  closely  asso- 
ciated with  events  following  the  return  of  the 
first  released  exiles  after  the  edict  of  Cyrus  were 
the  discourses  of  Haggai  and  the  visions  of  Zech- 
ariah,  the  latter  contained  in  the  first  eight  chap- 
ters of  the  book  that  bears  that  name. 

It  is  said  in  the  Book  of  Ezra,  which  was 
compiled  by  the  Chronicler  at  least  two  centuries 
after  these  events  from  material  more  than  a  cen- 
tury old  when  the  compilation  was  made,  that 
these  two  prophesied  unto  the  Jews  in  the  name 
of  the  God  of  Israel,  and  that  "  then  rose  up 
Zerubbabel  the  son  of  Sheatiel  and  Jeshua  the  son 
of  Jozadak  and  began  to  build  the  house  of  God 
which  is  in  Jerusalem."  This  was  in  the  second 
year  of  Darius  of  Persia,  502  B.  C,  and  eighteen 


LATER  PROPHETS  219 

years  after  the  return  and  the  beginning  of  the 
effort  to  rebuild  the  temple.  Difficulties  had  been 
encountered  and  the  work  lagged  sadly.  There 
had  apparently  been  a  drought,  a  lack  of  harvests 
and  "  hard  times  "  for  the  forlorn  community  of 
exiles  who  had  come  back  with  such  high  hopes. 
Haggai,  who  was  evidently  an  old  man,  took 
occasion  to  represent  this  as  a  penalty  because  of 
the  house  of  the  Lord  that  "  lieth  waste,"  and  to 
rouse  up  the  prince  and  the  priest  to  renewed  ef- 
forts. It  is  said  to  have  had  the  desired  effect 
and  the  old  prophet  encouraged  those  who  were 
depressed  by  the  humble  beginning  with  the  as- 
surance that  the  Lord  was  with  them  and  would 
bring  abundance  of  aid,  so  that  *'  the  glory  of  this 
house  shall  be  greater  than  the  former,"  and 
peace  should  be  given  in  it.  The  priests  are  re- 
rebuked  for  scanting  the  sacrifices,  which  was  also 
a  cause  of  the  poor  harvests.  The  style  of  the 
oracle  is  commonplace  and  rather  feeble,  but  at 
the  end  it  rises  into  a  glowing  promise  of  power 
when  the  Lord  would  make  "  Zerubbabel  as  a 
signet,  for  I  have  chosen  thee  saith  the  Lord." 

The  visions  of  Zechariah  are  contemporaneous 
with  the  exhortations  of  Haggai  and  have  a  like 
purpose.  Though  they  are  visions  of  the  night, 
they  lack  both  the  glow  of  poetry  and  the  elo- 
quence of  prophecy.  There  is  a  prelude  remind- 
ing the  people  that  in  the  past  the  Lord  had 
treated  their  fathers  according  to  their  evil  ways, 


220    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

and  a  warning  to  them  that  his  threats  and  prom- 
ises were  always  fulfilled.  In  the  visions  an 
"  angel  "  speaks  for  the  Lord.  The  conception 
of  the  angel  as  It  appears  here  was  derived  from 
Persian  mythology,  as  was  that  of  Satan  as  the 
adversary,  a  character  which  had  never  before  ap- 
peared in  Hebrew  literature.  Of  course  the 
visions  are  as  imaginary  as  those  of  Dante  or 
Milton,  or  Bunyan,  and  they  are  much  less  poet- 
ical or  impressive.  In  the  first  vision  the  angel 
calls  upon  the  Lord  to  know  how  long  he  will 
"  not  have  mercy  on  Jerusalem,"  and  elicits  the 
response  that  he  is  "  jealous  for  Jerusalem  and 
for  Zion  with  a  great  jealousy,"  and  is  sore  dis- 
pleased with  the  nations,  which  his  mounted 
emissaries  found  so  much  "  at  ease."  He  was, 
therefore,  returned  to  Jerusalem  with  mercies  and 
determined  that  his  house  should  be  built. 

The  next  vision  was  of  the  "  four  horns,"  or 
nations  that  had  scattered  Israel,  and  of  the  smiths 
who  would  fray  them  and  cut  them  down.  Then, 
one  with  a  measuring  line  prefigures  the  coming 
greatness  of  Jerusalem,  as  the  Lord  had  "  walked 
up  out  of  his  holy  habitation  "  and  had  come  to 
choose  it  as  his  own.  Next  is  a  vision  of 
Jeshua,  the  high  priest,  who  was  to  be  cleansed 
of  the  filthy  garments  of  iniquity  and  clothed  with 
rich  apparel,  a  "  fair  diadem  "  on  his  head,  while 
the  Lord  would  bring  forth  his  servant  "  the 
Branch."     It  is  not  made  clear  that  Zerubbabel 


LATER  PROPHETS  221 

IS  to  be  this  "  Branch,"  or  shoot,  presumably  of 
the  house  of  David,  but  the  next  vision,  of  the 
golden  candlestick  and  the  two  olive  trees,  seems 
to  imply  that  he  Is  to  rule,  "  not  by  might,  nor  by 
power  but  by  my  spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts" ; 
and  it  is  promised  that  he  shall  finish  "  this 
house."  These  two  "  sons  of  oil "  were  to  stand 
by  the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth.  Then  a  curse  is 
seen  to  go  forth  over  the  land  as  a  "  flying  roll  " 
for  those  who  steal  and  swear  falsely,  and  wicked- 
ness Is  sent  in  an  "  ephah  "  to  build  her  house  In 
the  land  of  Shinar.  Finally,  the  four  winds  of 
heaven,  as  chariots  with  vari-coloured  horses,  are 
sent  to  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth,  apparently 
to  quiet  the  spirit  of  hostility;  and  the  high  priest 
and  "  the  Branch  "  are  crowned  with  the  promise 
that  "  the  man  whose  name  is  the  Branch  "  shall 
build  the  temple  of  the  Lord  and  bear  the  glory, 
and  shall  rule  upon  his  throne,  while  the  other 
shall  be  a  priest  upon  his  throne,  and  "  the  coun- 
sel of  peace  shall  be  between  them  both." 

This  may  have  been  encouraging  to  the  temple- 
builders,  but  Zerubbabel  disappeared  from  history 
without  sitting  upon  a  throne  and  the  priests  be- 
came dominant  at  Jerusalem.  Two  years  later 
Zechariah  is  heard  from  again,  replying  to  priests 
who  wish  to  know  whether  they  shall  keep  up  the 
fasts  that  commemorated  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem and  the  murder  of  Gedallah,  who  had  been 
appointed  the  first  governor  by  the  King  of  Baby- 


222    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

Ion.  Speaking  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  he  re- 
peats the  familiar  promise  of  restoration  and 
greatness,  and  advises,  or  rather  commands,  that 
the  fasts  be  converted  into  cheerful  feasts.  The 
last  six  chapters  of  the  book  entitled  "  Zech- 
ariah  "  are  of  much  later  origin  and  became  at- 
tached to  the  rest  when  all  these  writings  were  in 
manuscript,  most  of  them  without  titles  and  in 
disorder. 

Probably  the  next  prediction  in  order  of  time 
known  as  a  "  prophecy,"  is  that  labelled  "  Mal- 
achi,"  which  is  not  a  proper  name,  but  means 
"  my  messenger  "  and  was  doubtless  attached  to 
it  as  a  title  by  some  editor,  on  account  of  the 
promise  at  the  beginning  of  chapter  three:  "  I 
will  send  my  messenger  and  he  shall  prepare  the 
way  before  me."  Its  date  is  not  easy  to  fix,  but 
it  is  generally  assumed  by  the  learned  to  be  be- 
fore the  time  of  Ezra,  who  brought  his  law  book 
from  Babylon  in  458  B.  C.  It  was  a  time  when 
priests  held  sway  and  the  secular  power,  which 
was  subject  to  Persia,  was  hardly  recognised. 
Part  of  it  is  in  the  form  of  a  sort  of  colloquy  put 
in  the  mouth  of  Yahweh,  and  sometimes  the  ut- 
terances appear  as  those  of  the  Lord  and  some- 
times as  those  of  the  writer  or  of  the  Lord's  peo- 
ple. It  begins  with  a  brief  prelude  contrasting 
the  Lord's  love  of  Jacob  with  his  enmity  for  the 
brother  nation  of  Esau.  Then  there  is  a  rough 
rebuke  of  the  priests  for  the  inferior  quality  of 


LATER  PROPHETS  223 

their  sacrifices  and  a  vulgar  threat  of  punish- 
ment. 

The  ordinances  of  the  priesthood  are  repre- 
sented as  a  covenant  between  the  Lord  and  Levi, 
the  common  personification  of  the  priestly  order. 
The  priests  of  the  writer's  time  are  condemned 
for  corrupting  "  the  covenant  of  Levi."  An- 
other purpose  of  this  production  was  to  condemn 
the  repudiation  by  some  of  the  Jews  of  the  wives 
of  their  youth  and  the  taking  of  wives  outside  of 
their  community,  figured  as  the  marriage  of 
Judah  with  "  the  daughter  of  a  strange  god." 
The  priests  are  also  censured  for  wearying  the 
Lord  with  words,  and  are  told  that  he  will  send 
his  messenger  and  will  himself  suddenly  come  to 
his  temple  to  purge  and  purify  the  sons  of  Levi 
and  to  be  a  witness  against  those  who  violate  his 
commandments.  Those  who  fail  in  presenting 
their  tithes  are  accused  of  robbing  God  and  are 
visited  with  a  curse,  while  the  promise  is  made 
that,  when  the  whole  tithe  is  brought,  a  blessing 
will  be  poured  out  so  abundant  that  there  will  not 
be  room  to  receive  it. 

This  well  illustrates  the  use  to  which  the  name 
of  Yahweh,  or  "  the  Lord,"  came  to  be  put  by 
the  censors  of  the  time,  but  it  differed  only  in 
quality  and  degree  from  its  customary  use  by 
prophets  and  law-makers,  who  always  attributed 
their  teaching,  their  warnings  and  commands, 
their  threats  and  promises,  to  the  deity  as  they 


224    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

conceived  him,  doubtless  believing  that  they  spoke 
by  his  inspiration.  The  most  significant  part  of 
this  little  anonymous  production,  and  that  which 
probably  caused  its  preservation,  is  its  close.  In 
those  days  of  humility  and  subjection  to  foreign 
authority  there  was  ever  the  dream  of  sudden 
rescue  by  the  Lord,  who  would  summon  the  na- 
tions to  judgment,  destroy  the  enemies  of  his  peo- 
ple and  purge  the  wicked  from  among  them,  and 
would  establish  a  kingdom  of  righteousness  and 
peace,  under  his  own  sway,  with  a  prince  of  his 
choosing  from  the  stock  of  David.  Here  it  is 
said  that  Elijah  the  prophet,  who  according  to  the 
legend  had  been  carried  alive  to  heaven  in  a  whirl- 
wind, would  be  sent  before  the  great  and  terrible 
day  to  turn  the  hearts  of  the  people  and  avert 
the  curse  with  which  the  Lord  would  otherwise 
smite  the  earth. 

There  is  a  highly  poetical  oracle  of  a  still  later 
time,  the  burden  of  which  is  this  same  "  great  and 
terrible  day  of  the  Lord."  It  is  introduced  as 
"  the  word  of  the  Lord  that  came  to  Joel  the  son 
of  Pethuel,"  though  it  is  mostly  descriptive,  and 
the  direct  word  of  the  Lord  appears  only  as  he  is 
referred  to  here  and  there  as  speaking  in  his  own 
person.  Perhaps  the  destruction  of  the  harvest 
of  a  year  by  drought  and  a  pest  of  locusts  is  an 
allusion  to  actual  experience,  and  it  is  surely  not 
to  be  Interpreted  as  a  figurative  portrayal  of  in- 
vasion and  devastation  by  a  real  army.     The  de- 


LATER  PROPHETS  225 

scrlption  of  the  destroying  army  of  insects  is  one 
of  the  most  vivid  in  all  literature.  This  visita- 
tion is  represented  as  an  affliction  sent  by  the  Lord 
and  as  a  precursor  of  the  great  and  terrible  day, 
and  the  people  are  called  upon  to  turn  to  him 
with  fasting  and  with  weeping  and  mourning,  for 
he  was  gracious  and  merciful,  slow  to  anger  and 
of  great  kindness  and  he  would  remove  from 
them  this  pest  and  "  drive  him  into  a  land  barren 
and  desolate,  with  his  face  to  the  Eastern  sea  and 
his  hinderpart  to  the  Western  sea."  The  land 
should  rejoice  and  the  Lord  would  do  great 
things  for  it.  There  should  be  an  era  of  abun- 
dance and  the  Lord  would  pour  out  his  spirit 
upon  all  flesh. 

The  great  and  terrible  day  would  be  heralded 
by  wonders  in  the  heavens  and  in  the  earth,  blood 
and  fire  and  pillars  of  smoke,  the  turning  of  the 
sun  into  darkness  and  the  moon  into  blood,  but 
for  those  who  called  upon  the  Lord  there  would 
be  deliverance  in  Mount  Zion  and  in  Jerusalem. 
There  is  a  graphic  picture  of  the  gathering  of  the 
nations  for  judgment  in  the  valley  of  Jehosha- 
phat  (Yahweh  judges),  and  of  the  coming  de- 
struction of  the  enemies  of  God  and  his  people. 
"  But  Judah  shall  dwell  forever  and  Jerusalem 
from  generation  to  generation.  For  I  will  cleanse 
their  blood  that  I  have  not  cleansed ;  for  the  Lord 
dwelleth  in  Zion." 

This   is   an    early    and   fine   example   of   that 


226    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

apocalyptic  writing  which  became  so  common  In 
later  centuries.  It  is  a  product  of  the  imagina- 
tion embodying  the  aspirations  and  hopes  of  the 
ardent  prophets  of  Israel,  but  those  hopes  were 
doomed  to  continued  disappointment.  It  neither 
prefigured  historic  events  that  were  destined  to 
come  to  pass,  nor  embodied  theological  concep- 
tions of  enduring  validity;  but  It  is  interesting  as 
reflecting  the  spirit  that  dwelt  in  Israel  In  a  time 
of  depression  and  gloom.  Of  the  same  period, 
but  probably  somewhat  later,  and  In  a  similar 
spirit  of  hopeful  prophecy,  is  the  passage  inter- 
polated In  the  midst  of  the  Book  of  Isaiah  as 
chapters  twenty-four  to  twenty-seven  according  to 
the  modern  division.  Of  this  period  also,  though 
showing  evidence  of  being  grafted  upon  a  more 
ancient  oracle.  Is  the  "  vision  of  Obadlah."  It  is 
directed  especially  against  the  kindred  nation  of 
Edom,  for  which  Israel  cherished  such  bitter  re- 
sentment for  being  less  than  kind  In  the  early 
struggles;  but  the  punishment  of  Edom  Is  dwelt 
upon  in  view  of  the  day  of  the  Lord  that  was 
"  near  upon  all  the  nations,"  when  all  should  be 
judged  and  the  kingdom  should  be  the  Lord's. 
After  much  study  and  research  by  the  learned, 
no  doubt  seems  to  remain  that  the  latest  of  all  the 
"  prophecies,"  save  for  fragments  interpolated  or 
affixed  here  and  there  upon  the  older  ''  books," 
is  to  be  found  In  the  six  chapters  that  now  con- 
stitute the  latter  part  of  the  Book  of  Zechariah. 


LATER  PROPHETS  227 

Notwithstanding  all  the  labour  bestowed  upon  its 
exposition  it  is  full  of  obscurities,  because  so  little 
is  known  of  the  period  of  its  production  or  the 
conditions  or  events  which  the  writer  or  writers 
had  in  mind  that  its  many  vague  allusions  cannot 
be  understood.  It  is  in  two  sections,  probably 
of  different  origin,  each  beginning  with  "  The  bur- 
den of  the  word  of  the  Lord,"  and  there  arc 
evidences  that  it  could  not  have  appeared  before 
the  period  of  Greek  domination  In  Syria  and  Pal- 
estine. It  shows  the  old  spirit  of  hatred  for  other 
nations  and  hope  for  theli  destruction,  and  of 
expectation  of  final  salvation  and  security  for  the 
sanctified  realm  of  ZIon.  Its  chief  interest  for  us 
lies  in  the  perverted  use  made  of  some  of  its 
obscurest  passages  In  the  later  transformations  of 
the  conceptions  of  a  coming  Messiah,  or  anointed 
one. 

The  rejoicing  of  the  daughter  of  ZIon  at 
the  coming  of  a  just  and  lowly  king  may  have  had 
some  reference  to  a  real  person,  or  it  may  have 
personified  that  undying  hope  of  a  righteous  and 
peaceful  reign  to  come;  but  it  was  not  a  prophecy 
of  something  wholly  different  from  what  its  lan- 
guage indicates.  Who  the  shepherds  were  so  fre- 
quently referred  to,  the  three  shepherds  cut  off 
in  one  month,  the  one  whose  hire  was  thirty  pieces 
of  silver,  the  "  worthless  shepherd  that  leaveth 
the  flock,"  or  the  one  that  was  to  be  smitten  that 
the   sheep   might  be   scattered,   no  man   has   the 


228     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

means  of  finding  out;  but  they  were  surely  persons 
of  the  writer's  own  time,  which  seems  to  have 
been  one  of  change  and  uncertainty  at  Jerusalem. 
The  one  certain  thing  is  that  the  "  burden  "  was 
still  the  destruction  of  the  enemies  of  Israel  and 
the  coming  time,  when  no  family  of  the  earth 
should  prosper  or  even  live  that  "  goeth  not  up 
unto  Jerusalem  to  worship  the  King,  the  Lord  of 
Hosts."  That  time  lives  only  in  the  imagination 
of  the  wandering  Jew  who  believes  that  the  cov- 
enant with  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob  is  still  to 
be  kept. 


X 

THE    JEWISH    LAW 

The  Jewish  law,  which  was  finally  interwoven 
with  the  legendary  narratives  of  the  passage 
through  the  deserts  from  Egypt  and  the  approach 
to  the  "  promised  land,"  beginning  with  the  myth- 
ical theophany  on  Mount  Sinai,  was  largely 
wrought  from  old  and  new  material  by  the  priests 
and  scribes  in  the  exile  at  Babylon,  but  it  was  not 
completed  until  after  the  re-establishment  and 
elaboration  of  the  ceremonial  worship  at  Jerusa- 
lem. It  became  part  of  a  new  ecclesiastical  sys- 
tem, and  the  old  narratives  were  modified  and 
adapted  to  it,  but  not  so  skifully  as  to  conceal  the 
incongruities.  The  oldest  material  is  that  known 
as  the  first  *'  Book  of  the  Covenant,"  running 
from  Exodus  xx,  24  to  xxni,  19.  It  is  gen- 
erally agreed  by  scholars  that  this  is  older  than 
either  of  the  ancient  documents  known  as  the 
Yahwist  and  the  Elohist  accounts,  and  that  it  was 
introduced  by  one  or  the  other  of  these,  though 
it  may  have  been  first  adopted  into  the  narra- 
tive when  they  were  blended  together.  The 
so-called    "  decalogue,"    which    precedes    it,    is   a 

229 


230    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

later  Interpolation,  and  the  narrative  of  chapter 
xix  continues  at  verse  nineteen  of  chapter  xx. 

This  "  Book  of  the  Covenant  "  consists  mainly 
of  a  primitive  codification  of  regulations,  relating 
slightly  to  matters  of  worship  but  chiefly  to  certain 
personal  and  property  rights  and  duties.  It  was 
probably  derived  In  part  from  Chaldean  prescrip- 
tions of  a  similar  kind;  but  with  the  barbarous 
rule  of  retaliation  as  a  penalty  for  wrongs  It  em- 
bodies some  merciful  requirements  regarding  the 
treatment  of  the  poor,  the  fatherless  and  the 
widow,  and  the  stranger.  It  requires  the  offering 
of  the  first  fruits  of  the  field  and  vineyard  and 
of  cattle  and  sheep,  and  even  the  first-born  son 
to  "  the  Lord,"  and  prescribes  certain  feasts  and 
sacrifices  and  the  weekly  day  of  rest  for  man  and 
beast,  which  last  was  certainly  of  Babylonian 
origin.  This  "  covenant  "  Is  now  only  of  anti- 
quarian interest,  like  most  of  the  law. 

After  this  Interruption  the  mixed  narrative  Is 
resumed  In  which  It  Is  said  that  Moses  told  the  peo- 
ple "  all  the  words  of  the  Lord  "  and  that  he 
"  wrote  all  the  words  of  the  Lord,"  and  finally 
that  he  "  took  the  book  of  the  covenant  and  read 
It  in  the  hearing  of  the  people."  It  Is  also  said 
that  the  Lord  called  him  up  into  the  mountain 
and  promised  to  give  him  "  tables  of  stone  and  a 
law  and  commandments  which  I  have  written  that 
thou  mayest  teach  them."  The  mythical  charac- 
ter of  such  statements,  as  well  as  of  those  relating 


THE  JEWISH  LAW  231 

to  the  sojourn  of  Moses  on  the  cloud-covered 
mountain,  first  waiting  six  days  for  the  Lord  to 
speak  and  then  remaining  forty  days  and  forty 
nights,  has  been  already  considered.  The  narra- 
tive is  again  interrupted  by  a  long  passage  of  six 
chapters  of  much  later  origin,  followed  by  the 
account  of  the  making  and  worshipping  of  the 
golden  calf,  which  aroused  the  fierce  wrath  of  the 
Lord  and  caused  Moses  in  his  anger  to  break  the 
two  tables  of  stone  which  he  was  bringing  down 
from  the  mountain,  written  on  both  sides  with 
"  the  writing  of  God."  It  is  well  to  remember 
that  this  narrative  was  written  long  after  Jero- 
boam had  set  up  his  golden  calf  as  a  symbol  of 
Yahweh  at  Bethel,  and  it  was  no  doubt  intended 
as  a  condemnation  of  such  devices  though  they 
were  then  no  new  thing  in  Israel.  Such  symbols 
had  been  in  use  without  condemnation  in  the  days 
of  the  "  Judges  "  and  the  first  kings. 

Moses  succeeded  by  his  intercession  in  so  far 
averting  the  fierce  anger  of  the  outraged  deity 
that  he  refrained  from  destroying  the  people  who 
gave  him  so  much  trouble,  and  promised  to  write 
upon  two  new  tables  of  stone  the  words  that  were 
upon  the  first.  We  need  not  pursue  the  narrative, 
the  character  of  which  Is  so  plain,  but  what  were 
the  words  graven  upon  the  tables  of  stone?  The 
Lord  Is  represented  as  saying  to  Moses  ''  I  make 
a  covenant,"  and  as  warning  against  any  "  cov- 
enant with  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  to  which 


232     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

thou  goest,  lest  it  be  a  snare  In  the  midst  of  thee/' 
and  then  delivering  a  number  of  injunctions,  be- 
ginning "  Thou  shalt  worship  no  other  God " 
and  ending  "  Thou  shalt  not  seethe  a  kid  in  his 
mother's  milk."  "  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses 
write  these  words  " ;  and,  after  being  there  with 
the  Lord  forty  days  and  forty  nights,  it  is  said 
that  he  wrote  upon  the  tables  of  stone  "  the  words 
of  the  covenant,  the  ten  commandments." 

Notwithstanding  all  the  controversy  that  has 
been  waged  over  this  question  by  those  anxious 
to  preserve  consistency  where  no  consistency  is, 
and  to  maintain  as  a  divine  revelation  what  was 
surely  a  most  human  device,  it  is  perfectly  plain 
that  what  is  there  represented  as  being  written 
on  the  two  tables  of  stone  are  the  words  of  the 
covenant  immediately  preceding.  The  origin  of 
what  we  are  accustomed  to  call  the  "  ten  command- 
ments "  and  have  been  taught  to  believe  were 
written  on  the  tables  of  stone  on  Mount  Sinai  by 
the  finger  of  God,  is  hidden  in  impenetrable  ob- 
scurity, and  every  attempt  to  elucidate  it  on  the 
theory  of  divine  revelation  and  consistency  in  the 
accounts,  only  makes  confusion  worse  confounded. 
Their  formulation  was  certainly  much  later  than 
the  original  material  of  these  narratives,  which 
first  appeared  some  centuries  after  the  time  as- 
signed to  the  exodus  from  Egypt  under  the  guid- 
ance of  a  deliverer  to  whom  the  name  Moses  was 
given. 


THE  JEWISH  LAW  233 

There  is  nothing  in  the  older  writings  relating 
to  the  time  of  the  judges  or  the  kings,  or  in  the 
utterances  of  prophets  before  the  exile,  implying  a 
knowledge  of  this  consecrated  decalogue,  whether 
written  on  tables  of  stone  by  Moses  or  by  the 
"  finger  of  God."  The  oldest  form  in  which  it 
was  preserved  is  undoubtedly  that  in  the  fifth 
chapter  of  Deuteronomy,  but  the  oldest  part  of 
that  book  first  appeared  in  the  reign  of  Josiah, 
about  622  B.  C,  and  it  was  considerably  enlarged 
at  a  later  time  and  put  into  its  final  form  after 
the  exile.  These  ten  commandments  may  have 
been  included  in  the  "  Book  of  the  Law  "  said  to 
have  been  found  in  the  temple  by  the  priest  Hil- 
kiah,  which  formed  the  nucleus  of  what  became 
the  Book  of  Deuteronomy;  but  it  was  probably 
incorporated  later.  In  the  connecting  narrative 
there  Moses  is  represented  as  saying  "  These 
words  the  Lord  spake  unto  all  your  assembly  in 
the  Mount  out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire,  of  the  cloud 
and  of  the  thick  darkness,  with  a  great  voice  and 
he  added  no  more.  And  he  wrote  them  in  two 
tables   of   stone    and    delivered    them    unto    me." 

This  was  no  doubt  derived  by  the  writer  from 
the  old  accounts,  which  must  have  been  in  the  tem- 
ple at  the  time,  but  it  corresponds  with  them  very 
Imperfectly,  and  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  in  any 
sense  historical  fact.  Considered  as  pure  imagi- 
nation, It  is  quite  consistent  with  the  manner  of 
priests  and  prophets,  not  only  in  Israel  but  among 


234    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

all  ancient  people.  It  Is  difficult  for  us  to  realise 
how  little  they  thought  of  fact  in  such  matters, 
and  how  readily  they  believed  what  they  imagined 
to  be  the  truth. 

This  version  of  the  decalogue  differs  In  sig- 
nificant points  from  that  interpolated  in  the  nar- 
rative of  the  theophany  on  Mount  Sinai  in  the 
twentieth  chapter  of  Exodus.  Though  much 
learned  question  has  been  made  of  it,  that  form 
was  surely  a  post-exilic  modification  of  the  other, 
included  in  the  constituent  of  the  Pentateuch 
known  as  the  "  Priests'  Code  "  or  the  "  priests' 
writing."  To  that  without  doubt  belonged  the 
opening  chapter  of  Genesis,  with  its  lofty  concep- 
tion of  the  deity  and  its  scheme  of  creation  in 
six  days,  after  which  God  rested  on  the  seventh 
day  from  all  his  work.  The  Sabbath  as  a  day 
of  rest,  whenever  it  was  first  observed  in  Israel, 
of  which  there  Is  no  certain  evidence  in  pre-exllic 
writing,  was  derived  from  Babylonia.  The 
author  of  the  Deuteronomic  decalogue  makes  its 
observance  a  memorial  of  the  deliverance  from 
Egyptian  bondage.  That  of  the  version  in  Ex- 
odus gives  it  the  sanction  of  the  Lord's  example. 
In  keeping  with  the  story  of  the  creation,  and  this 
may  be  safely  taken  as  conclusive  evidence  of  the 
late  origin  of  this  version  of  the  decalogue.  That 
production  in  itself,  apart  from  the  commands 
against  the  worship  of  any  other  god,  the  use  of 
idols  or  images,  and  the  use  of  Yahweh's  name 


THE  JEWISH  LAW  235 

In  false  oaths,  and  for  the  observance  of  every 
seventh  day  for  rest  from  labour,  is  simply  an 
admirable  condensation  of  injunctions  that  might 
be  culled  from  almost  any  ancient  literature.  It 
needed  no  higher  inspiration  than  has  been  com- 
mon in  ''  men  of  light  and  leading  "  in  all  his- 
toric time. 

Next  to  the  ancient  form  of  the  "  Book  of  the 
Covenant  "  and  the  briefer  statement  of  commands 
as  a  "  covenant "  in  the  narrative  of  Chapter 
thirty-four  of  the  Book  of  Exodus,  the  oldest  part 
of  the  written  law  is  that  to  be  found  in  Deuter- 
onomy. In  the  account  of  the  reign  of  Josiah  in 
the  Second  Book  of  Kings,  It  Is  said  that  this  was 
found  in  "  the  house  of  the  Lord  "  by  the  priest 
Hilkiah  and  taken  to  the  king  by  Shaphan  the 
scribe  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  that 
Monarch,  when  he  was  twenty-six  years  of  age. 
The  king  was  so  alarmed  at  its  contents  that  he 
rent  his  clothes  and  immediately  began  the  reforms 
in  worship  and  in  observances  which  are  then  de- 
scribed. 

The  precise  origin  of  this  "  book  of  the 
law  "  and  how  much  it  constitutes  of  the  present 
book  of  Deuteronomy  has  been  the  subject  of 
much  learned  discussion.  It  is  now  generally 
agreed  that  the  introductory  discourses  of  Moses, 
"  addressed  to  all  Israel  on  this  side  Jordan  in 
the  wilderness,"  which  would  be  "  this  side  "  to- 
ward the  exiles  at  Babylon,  as  far  at  least  as  the 


236    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

end  of  Chapter  four,  are  considerably  later  and 
not  entirely  homogeneous.  Most  of  the  closing 
chapters  after  xxvi,  15,  are  of  extraneous  ma- 
terial of  a  mixed  character,  but  the  blessing  and 
cursing  of  Chapter  xxvill  are  generally  cred- 
ited to  the  original  document.  Opinions  differ  as 
to  whether  this  document  includes  all  from  Chap- 
ter five  to  XXVI,  15,  or  begins  with  Chapter 
twelve,  but  for  our  purpose  this  does  not  greatly 
matter.  In  any  case  the  whole  was  subject  to 
revision  by  the  later  scribes,  though  there  is  little 
evidence  of  material  change. 

As  to  the  origin  of  the  book  of  the  law  as  it  was 
"  found  "  in  the  temple,  there  are  some  pertinent 
observations  suggested  by  independent  criticism, 
which  are  not  altogether  consistent  with  the  con- 
clusions of  those  learned  persons  who  are  anxious 
to  preserve  the  sacred  character  of  what  they  ad- 
mit to  be  the  work  of  men  some  2,500  years  ago 
in  an  Asiatic  country.  For  considerably  more 
than  a  hundred  years  before  the  time  of  Joslah 
the  prophets,  first  in  the  kingdom  of  Israel  and 
then  in  Judah,  had  been  contending  strenuously 
against  the  tendency  of  the  people  to  be  enticed 
into  the  worship  of  *'  other  gods  "  than  Yahweh, 
and  into  the  practices  of  the  surrounding  people 
and  of  the  survivors  of  the  Canaanite  tribes. 
They  had  striven  to  magnify  the  God  of  Israel 
In  the  eyes  of  his  people,  to  impress  upon  them 
the  principles  of  righteous  conduct  and  purity  of 


THE  JEWISH  LAW  237 

life,  as  his  commands  and  as  necessary  to  his 
favour  and  protection.  They  recalled  promises 
attributed  to  him  by  the  earliest  writers,  reminded 
the  people  of  what  he  had  done  for  them,  and 
uttered  direful  threats  of  what  he  would  do  If 
they  did  not  obey  him  and  worship  him  only. 

In  spite  of  all,  they  and  most  of  their  rulers 
persisted  In  going  astray  In  the  most  vexatious 
manner,  and  this  was  the  cause  of  all  the  calamity 
that  befel  them.  It  made  their  God  jealous  and 
wrathful,  and  he  would  utterly  destroy  them  if 
they  did  not  mend  their  ways,  though  he  would 
surely  save  a  faithful  remnant  with  which  to  fulfil 
his  promise  to  Abraham  In  the  covenant  made  with 
him  In  the  olden  time.  Already  his  patience  had 
been  exhausted  by  Ephralm,  or  the  kingdom  of 
Israel,  and  he  had  brought  the  Assyrians  upon 
it  and  destroyed  it.  Judah  had  narrowly  escaped 
the  same  power  in  the  time  of  Hezeklah,  but  In 
spite  of  the  warning  there  had  been  a  terrible 
relapse  under  his  son  Manasseh,  which  continued 
under  the  short  reign  of  Amon.  Josiah  came  to 
the  throne  when  he  was  eight  years  old,  and  ac- 
cording to  the  statements  made  In  connection  with 
the  "  reforms  "  instituted  after  the  discovery  of 
"  the  book  of  the  law,"  the  like  of  which  was  not 
known  before,  the  evil  practices  had  continued  up 
to  that  time.  Jeremiah  had  appeared  on  the 
scene  as  a  prophet  five  years  before  that,  and  his 
earlier  utterances  as  preserved  are  of  the  most 


23S     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  1SR-\EL 

dokful  and  menacing  kind,  on  account  of  the  pre- 
vailing idolatry  and  iniquin*.  It  is  significant 
that  nothing  after  these  utterances  can  be  iden- 
tified as  his  during  the  reign  of  Josiah,  and  it  may 
be  equally  significant  that  the  prophet  is  not  men- 
tusned  in  the  Book  of  Kings  in  connection  with  that 
nicT  or  his  SEOOJessors,  all  account  of  his  activity 
being  transferred  to  the  Book  of  Jeremiah,  where 
no  mention  is  made  ai  the  **  book  of  the  law," 

The  obvious  purpose  of  this  book  was  to  battle 
against  the  very  condition  of  things  that  then  ex- 
isted in  Judah,  and  to  induce  the  destruction  of 
all  the  old  fanes  and  altars  of  the  "  high  places/' 
with  their  heathenish  symbols,  and  to  concentrate 
all  worAap  mmd  sacriices  at  Jerusalem,  the  place 
which  the  Lord  had  chosen  **  to  cause  his  name 
to  dwell  Jiiere."'  Was  this  book,  so  effectively 
dnagftpd  and  so  opportunely  brought  to  light, 
merely  *'  found  "  by  accident  in  the  temple,  or 
was  it  deliberately  produced  by  priest  or  prophet, 
under  the  keen  guidance  of  Jeremiah,  for  the 
very  purpose  of  accomplishing  the  results  that 
followed?  The  inference  implied  in  this  question, 
which  is  not  merely  plausible  but  almost  irresist- 
ible, has  been  generally  discarded  by  learned 
scholars,  mostly  doctors  of  divinity,  on  account  of 
their  aversion  to  what  has  been  characterised  as 
a  "  pious  fraud.'' 

But  why  ''  fraud,"  any  more  than  the  fulmina- 
tions  on  Mount  Sinai,  which  must  be   acknowl- 


THE  JEWKH  LAW  !» 

10  lie  nrjtfecdl?  Wby  fraud  any  more 
ibsHi  prodaoiua^  dbc  witflib  Lcpicnsili  sysueuL  as 
dbr  ^v«  €f  God  **"€»(  of  tAr  fis^emsnifir  ^i.  dbr 
csHg^rcipttnDiii'^  to  MoKSy.  «s  be  repeated  by  Man 
119  dbe  peoiplie  m  trifrr  wiMt  "'fwi  i"^  Smmy  w&as  t&at 
is  iBfmwimsti<if!^  idbs  wmdk  €m.  jwimto  SBEd  sorioci 
afor  idlDS  Gdle?  Wbf  feaood  wsf  more  fi&sn 
t9  Mflscf  lids  v^Tf  tedk  of  fife  ftnrr 
it  ii  awftiiiiBwI  tfasMt  as  «&  niHllBimc  raidt  k  was 
met  aodl  coald  not  ksve  been  fik  anfihor  of  ot? 
It  w«Uk  aftwgrttfcgir  in  toegaig  wMb  fihr  ««■> 
nor  0if  €&r  fiancv  canl!aid%  pucMual  by  pnests  saad 
|inu|fcfis  ior  nnpircaniig  ifcr  pnpll^  ^  ^  ^  focA 
ihEs  wdmnt  m  a  npfstarioas  wafr,   i  )imi  Bat 

fik  hone  of  fife  Lcnnl  '^  ami  pnenmably  left  diere 
by  tbc  Lewd  V-iM^ff  to  be  feoDBL     There  was 

devices,  and  it 
principles  ta 
SKb  a  parfionBHBr  ia  Aoie  <ftq(s  and  ni  fibat  pact 
of  tbc  andcBt  ipodd.    Wc  bavc  oai|r  tto  ^Et  iM 


ddivered   in  dbc 
oowu  nroBB  fine 
of  BAna  and  ntfiacd  b^  biai:  as  t&e  dfirect 
of  IsacFs  Godp  JH^  »  be  was 


240    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

to  bring  his  people  into  the  promised  land,  and 
as  their  great  leader  was  to  take  leave  of  them 
without  entering  it  on  account  of  their  sins,  are 
directed  first  of  all  to  the  extermination  of  the 
tribes  in  that  land  and  the  utter  destruction  of 
their  places  and  devices  of  heathen  worship.  This 
is  to  be  done  in  the  most  complete  and  pitiless 
way,  that  no  enticement  be  left  to  alienate  the 
Lord's  people  from  him  after  all  that  he  has  done 
and  will  do  for  them.  These  exhortations  are 
mingled  with  reminders  of  the  past,  with  prom- 
ises for  the  future  in  case  of  obedience,  and  with 
threats  in  case  of  disobedience,  and  are  reiterated 
In  various  forms.  Whatever  the  difference  of 
origin  In  the  two  sections  of  the  book,  the  real 
code  of  "  statutes  and  judgments  "  begins  with 
chapter  twelve,  and  there  the  first  place  is  given 
to  the  destruction  of  the  places  and  forms  and 
symbols  of  worship  In  the  land  which  the  Lord 
was  about  to  give  to  his  people.  There  also  the 
design  of  concentrating  his  own  worship  at  one 
place  first  appears. 

Directions  are  given  about  the  manner  of  wor- 
ship and  the  preservation  of  fidelity  to  Its  obliga- 
tions. Death  by  stoning  Is  to  be  the  penalty  of 
infidelity,  and  all  heretics  to  the  faith  are  to  be 
ruthlessly  destroyed.  There  are  prescriptions 
regarding  food,  regarding  offerings  and  sacrifices, 
the  keeping  of  the  passover  and  other  feasts,  the 
punishment  of  offences,  the  duties  and  allowances 


THE  JEWISH  LAW  241 

of  "  the  priests  the  Levites,"  etc.  Much  of  it  is 
crude  and  barbarous,  in  keeping  with  the  spirit 
of  the  time,  with  overmuch  of  death  penalty  and 
cruelty;  but  there  is  humanity  for  those  of  the 
tribe  and  the  family,  kindness  to  the  poor,  the 
bereaved,  and  the  stranger,  and  mercy  for 
the  penitent  and  submissive.  Here  and  there  are 
flashes  of  the  ethical  spirit  of  the  prophets,  the 
demand  for  righteous  conduct  and  the  doing  of 
justice,  but  above  all  there  must  be  love  and  fear 
for  Israel's  God  and  submission  to  his  behests  or 
the  punishment  will  be  without  mercy. 

The  chapter  about  setting  up  great  stones  on 
Mount  Ebal  upon  which  the  commandments  are  to 
be  written,  and  uttering  blessings  from  Mount 
Gerizim  and  curses  from  Mount  Ebal,  is  generally 
regarded  as  a  later  interpolation;  but  the  elab- 
orate and  extravagant  promise  of  blessing  for 
obedience  and  threat  of  cursing  for  disobedience 
of  Chapter  twenty-eight  are  believed  to  form  the 
close  of  the  original  production,  to  which  Is  to  be 
added  the  statement  In  a  later  chapter  that  Moses 
"  wrote  this  law  "  and  delivered  it  to  the  priests 
that  had  charge  of  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  who 
were  enjoined  to  read  It  at  the  end  of  every  seven 
years  at  the  feast  of  tabernacles  before  all  Israel. 
With  this  exception,  the  last  six  chapters  of  the 
book  are  additions  not  germane  to  our  present 
subject. 

A  graphic  account  of  the  effect  produced  by 


242    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

the  reading  of  this  book  of  the  law  in  its  original 
form  appears  in  the  twenty-third  chapter  of  the 
Second  Book  of  Kings.  It  was  probably  in  the 
exile  that  this  code  was  inserted  between  the  pre- 
liminary discourses  of  Moses  and  the  final  chap- 
ters of  mixed  material,  ending  with  death  of  the 
"  prophet  "  the  like  of  whom  had  not  risen  since 
in  Israel.  But  the  completion  and  revision  of 
the  book  which  afterwards  received  the  title  of 
*'  Deuteronomy ''  was  a  small  part  of  the  work 
done  in  that  period  in  developing  the  Jewish  law 
as  it  was  finally  enshrined  in  what  was  canonised 
as  the  "  Torah/'  The  prophet  Ezekiel,  as  we 
have  seen,  drew  the  outlines  of  a  system  for  the 
new  religious  commonwealth  that  was  to  be  estab- 
lished at  Jerusalem.  Partly  upon  those  lines  the 
fuller  code  was  elaborated  by  the  priests  and 
scribes  at  Babylon  and  completed  in  later  days  at 
Jerusalem,  when  it  was  framed  in  a  new  account 
of  the  creation  which  became  the  impressive  pre- 
lude of  the  whole  collection,  and  a  meagre  sketch 
of  the  ante-diluvian  and  post-diluvian  generations, 
the  covenant  with  Abraham,  and  other  mythical 
material,  down  to  the  theophany  on  Mount  Sinai. 
This  was  finally  interlaced  with  the  older  material, 
with  much  trimming  down  and  fitting  together. 
The  material  of  this  later  law,  known  as  the 
"  Priests'  Code,"  is  far  from  homogeneous;  and, 
as  it  runs  through  the  later  chapters  of  Exodus, 
constitutes  the  bulk  of  Leviticus  and  the  earlier 


THE  JEWISH  LAW  243 

chapters  of  Numbers,  and  protrudes  here  and 
there  in  the  rest  of  the  latter  book,  it  contains 
some  inconsistencies  and  many  repetitions  and 
variations.  Scholars  find  in  chapters  seventeen 
to  twenty-six  of  Leviticus,  with  traces  elsewhere, 
what  they  designate  as  the  "  Law  of  Holiness," 
of  earlier  origin  than  the  rest.  The  final  process 
of  blending  and  revision  was  Imperfectly  done  and 
has  provoked  much  laborious  study.  It  was 
eighty  years  after  the  first  return  of  exiles  under 
the  prince  Zerubbabel  and  the  priest  Jeshua,  in 
pursuance  of  the  edict  of  release  by  Cyrus,  that 
another  priest,  Ezra,  led  back  a  contingent  of 
those  who  had  remained  in  exile,  to  the  number  of 
seventeen  hundred  and  more,  by  authority  of 
Artaxerxes.  This  was  in  458  B.  C.  He  is  said 
to  have  brought  with  him  "  the  book  of  the  law 
of  Moses,  which  the  Lord  had  commanded  to 
Israel  " ;  but  it  was  fourteen  years  later,  under  the 
administration  of  Nehemiah  as  the  Persian  gov- 
ernor, by  the  grace  of  Artaxerxes,  that  it  was  pro- 
claimed and  read  "  in  the  sight  of  all  the  people," 
who  were  pledged  to  obedience  to  it. 

How  much  this  contained  of  what  is  called  the 
*'  Priests'  Code,"  or  of  the  older  versions  of 
*'  law,"  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain,  nor  does  it 
greatly  matter;  but  it  was  many  years  later,  about 
400  B.  C,  that  the  *'  books  of  Moses,"  in  which 
the  "  Torah  "  was  enshrined  and  closed  against 
further  manipulation,  were  finally  completed  and 


244    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

canonised  as  sacred,  to  be  known  in  the  Greek 
version  as  the  Pentateuch.  Of  the  character  of 
the  final  Mosaic  legislation  there  Is  no  occasion 
for  saying  much  to  place  it  In  the  light  which  it 
is  our  puipose  to  diffuse  upon  it  in  order  to  have 
it  seen  as  It  is,  without  the  glamour  of  divinity 
which  superstition  and  misguided  devotion  have 
so  long  preserved  in  spite  of  reason  and  common 
sense. 

One  main  purpose  which  the  priests  of  the  re- 
stored temple  and  the  new  Judaism  had,  was  to 
carry  back  all  the  appointments  of  the  sacrificial, 
ceremonial  and  ritual  worship  which  they  had  In- 
stituted and  developed,  in  all  their  details,  to  the 
specific  commands  of  the  deity  through  Moses  in 
the  deserts  of  Sinai,  and  thereby  to  give  them  an 
authority  and  sanction  that  could  not  be  disputed. 
Nothing  like  this  form  and  manner  of  worship 
had  been  known  before  the  exile,  but  it  was  as- 
sumed that  it  was  because  the  commands  of  God 
had  not  been  obeyed.  Now  a  prototype  of  the 
temple  with  all  its  appliances  and  observances  was 
to  be  created  in  the  wilderness  of  Sinai,  back  in 
the  remote  age  of  the  great  deliverance.  Accord- 
ingly it  is  represented  that  in  the  forty  days  and 
forty  nights  that  Moses  was  in  the  cloud-covered 
Mount,  whither  God  had  called  him  to  give  him 
"  the  tables  of  stone,  and  the  law  and  the  com- 
mandments," he  received  the  detailed  instructions 
for  the  "  tabernacle  "  and  all  its  equipment,  which 


THE  JEWISH  LAW  245 

was  to  be  the  meeting  place  of  God  and  his  peo- 
ple. These  Instructions  occupy  the  six  chapters 
of  Exodus  from  xxvi  to  xxxi.  Six  more 
chapters  at  the  end  of  the  book  describe  In  equal 
detail  and  complete  repetition  the  execution  of 
the  Instructions. 

It  needs  little  cool  reflection  to  realise  the  ab- 
surdity of  supposing  that  all  the  material  and 
workmanship  described  were  available  in  that 
lonely  desert  just  after  the  escape  of  this  horde 
of  bondmen  from  Egypt;  but  it  Is  easy  to  conceive 
that  it  was  imagined  as  a  preiiguration  of  the 
paraphernalia  of  the  temple.  This  tabernacle,  or 
Tent  of  Meeting,  being  provided,  it  is  made  the 
place  from  which  the  Lord  spake  to  Moses  all  his 
commands  and  instructions  relating  to  his  wor- 
ship, which  were  to  be  imparted  to  his  people,  as 
they  are  contained  in  the  Book  of  Leviticus  and 
the  Book  of  Numbers.  There  is  little  in  it  of 
high  ethical  significance,  much  that  from  any  mod- 
ern point  of  view  Is  barbarous,  and  It  is  mainly 
of  antiquarian  interest,  like  the  religious  Institu- 
tions of  Egypt  or  Assyria. 

The  first  chapters  of  Leviticus  deal  in  minute 
detail  and  in  language  purporting  to  come  from 
the  deity  himself,  with  the  sacrifices  and  offerings, 
the  oblations  and  gifts,  which  were  to  atone  for 
a  variety  of  trespasses  and  sins,  and  to  win  the 
favour  of  God,  of  the  very  kind  which  some  of  the 
prophets  denounced  as  vain  in  the  primitive  forms 


246    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

of  their  own  day.  With  similar  particularity  the 
consecration  of  the  priests  is  prescribed.  Occa- 
sionally in  these  books  an  incident  is  introduced, 
possibly  suggested  by  some  experience  or  difficulty, 
but  imagined  as  occurring  in  the  ancient  time, 
when  this  law  was  supposed  to  have  been  given, 
which  is  intended  to  impress  some  point  deemed 
of  great  importance.  Such  is  that  of  the  Lord 
breaking  out  with  ferocity  and  devouring  two 
sons  of  Aaron  for  offering  ''  strange  fire,"  or 
burning  incense  without  strictly  observing  the 
technical  requirements.  There  are  prescriptions 
regarding  the  animals  that  may  be  eaten  and  a 
strict  prohibition  of  eating  blood,  because  it  con- 
tains the  life.  There  are  rules  for  purification 
from  uncleanness  of  various  kinds,  loathsome  de- 
tails about  the  diagnosis  and  treatment  of  leprosy, 
and  the  forms  of  impurity  from  which  men  and 
women  must  be  cleansed.  There  is  a  curious 
illustration  of  the  conception  of  atonement,  as  it 
prevailed  after  the  exile,  probably  borrowed,  like 
much  of  the  rest  relating  to  the  cultus,  from  the 
practices  of  the  East,  in  the  sacrifice  for  the  sins 
of  the  whole  people  and  their  transfer  to  the  head 
of  a  goat  to  be  dismissed  Into  the  desert. 

When  it  comes  to  the  so-called  law,  or  "  cov- 
enant," of  holiness,  there  Is  more  about  sacrifices, 
the  slaughter  of  victims  and  purification,  but  this 
section  is  mainly  taken  up  with  detailed  commands 
and  prohibitions  that  concern  personal  and  social 


THE  JEWISH  LAW  247 

conduct.  Some  of  these  savour  of  the  ethical 
principles  long  inculcated  by  those  great  teachers, 
the  pre-exilic  prophets,  but  for  the  most  part  they 
are  prescriptions  adapted  to  a  semi-barbarous  time 
and  reflecting  the  conditions  that  were  supposed 
to  make  them  necessary.  In  this  older  material 
there  are  several  matters  which  were  elaborated 
in  preceding  chapters,  such  as  those  relating  to 
leprosy,  uncleanness  and  purification.  The  death 
penalty  is  freely  prescribed  for  many  offences 
which  are  of  moral  and  social  turpitude  rather 
than  of  a  criminal  character,  and  some  which  are 
mere  neglect  of  religious  observances.  There  is 
a  great  deal  of  unsavoury  grossness  and  little  edi- 
fication for  the  modern  mind  in  this  mass,  though 
It  may  have  been  fitted  for  restraint  and  the  sup- 
pression of  evil  tendencies  in  the  time  for  which 
it  was  devised,  when  it  was  easy  to  fall  into  idol- 
atry or  be  lured  away  by  wizards  and  those  having 
familiar  spirits.  Death  was  made  the  penalty  of 
witchcraft,  as  well  as  profaning  the  sabbath, 
blaspheming  the  name  of  the  Lord  and  cursing 
one's  father  or  mother.  There  Is  an  occasional 
gem  glittering  in  the  heap,  like  that  great  com- 
mandment "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as 
thyself,"  but  this  Is  applied  only  to  '*  the  children 
of  thy  people." 

The  various  Jewish  feasts  are  Instituted  or 
newly  consecrated  with  rules  for  their  observance, 
and  the  sabbatical  year  and  the  year  of  jubilee  are 


248     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

prescribed  with  a  form  of  observance  that  never 
proved  practicable.  This  collection  of  "  stat- 
utes "  ends  with  the  familiar  promise  of  health, 
peace  and  prosperity  as  a  reward  for  their  ob- 
servance, and  threats  of  dire  calamity  if  they  are 
not  obeyed.  In  this  there  Is  an  evident  retro- 
spect of  what  had  happened  to  the  nation  in  its 
days  of  disobedience.  "  These,"  it  Is  said,  *'  are 
the  statutes  and  judgments  and  laws  which  the 
Lord  made  between  him  and  the  children  of 
Israel  In  Mount  Sinai  by  the  hand  of  Moses." 
That  formula  seems  to  have  closed  what  Is  called 
the  ''  law  of  holiness,"  but  a  later  chapter  Is  added 
relating  to  the  cost  of  redeeming  various  vows, 
and  nearly  the  same  formula  Is  repeated. 

The  alleged  enumeration  of  tribes  In  the  wil- 
derness with  which  the  Book  of  Numbers  opens 
and  from  which  It  takes  its  title.  Is  part  of  the 
same  *'  priests'  writing "  In  which  these  latest 
codes  are  embodied.  In  connection  with  the 
census  of  Levi  the  distinction  between  priests  and 
Levites,  which  was  unknown  before  the  exile,  is 
established,  and  their  several  functions  are  de- 
fined. The  priests  are  made  descendants  of 
Aaron  and  his  sons,  while  the  Levites  were  other 
offspring  of  the  tribe,  whose  duties  were  those  of 
ministers  of  worship  subordinate  to  the  priests. 
The  fact  seems  to  be  that  the  class  of  Levites  con- 
sisted originally  of  the  priests  of  the  places  of 
worship  away  from  Jerusalem  before  the  aboli- 


THE  JEWISH  LAW  249. 

tion  of  the  "  high  places."  It  was  the  plan  of 
Ezekiel  to  reduce  these  to  a  menial  position  In 
the  service  of  the  temple,  but  to  that  they  would 
not  submit,  and  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  Levitlcal 
law  to  give  them  a  certain  dignity  as  substitutes 
for  the  first  born  of  all  Israel  and  to  make  them 
a  charge  upon  the  people  for  their  support.  They 
were  regarded  as  descendants  of  the  mythical 
Levi,  son  of  Jacob,  and  a  tribe  by  themselves 
without  any  allotment  of  land  or  property,  because 
they  were  to  be  devoted  to  the  service  of  the  Lord 
and  provided  for  at  the  general  expense.  The 
original  Levi,  or  Levite,  was  merely  the  priest  of 
the  old  sanctuaries,  like  that  whom  the  migrating 
Danites  captured  and  carried  away. 

The  Book  of  Numbers  contains  sundry  varia- 
tions upon  previous  statutes  and  laws  and  some 
new  ones,  such  as  those  relating  to  the  Nazirite's 
vows,  the  duties  of  priests  and  Levltes,  the  observ- 
ance of  the  passover,  inheritance  and  the  spoils  of 
war,  but  in  these  additions  there  is  scarcely  a 
glimmer  of  anything  of  high  ethical  value.  Of 
curious  interest  is  one  of  those  illustrative  Inci- 
dents already  referred  to,  not  unlike  that  of  the 
consuming  wrath  of  the  Lord  that  devoured  two 
of  the  sons  of  Aaron  with  fire.  It  is  based  upon 
or  mingled  with  an  old  account  of  a  rebellion  In 
the  wilderness  headed  by  certain  Reubenltes 
against  the  authority  of  Moses.  Possibly  this 
Reubenite  rebellion,  whatever  it  may  really  have 


250    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

been,  In  the  migration  from  Egypt,  had  some  re- 
lation to  that  mythical  defilement  of  his  father's 
bed  by  Reuben,  referred  to  in  the  ancient  poem. 
There  may  have  been  in  the  establishment  of  the 
Levltlcal  system  some  trouble  which  suggested  the 
mixing  of  Korah  of  the  tribe  of  Levi  with  this  re- 
volt against  divine  authority,  and  having  him  and 
his  fellow  conspirators  swallowed  up  by  the  earth, 
as  an  example  to  those  who  take  too  much  upon 
themselves,  and  to  show  that  ''  the  man  whom  the 
Lord  doth  choose,  he  shall  be  holy,"  and  not  the 
man  who  sets  himself  up. 

These  Jewish  laws  were  a  human  development 
during  a  period  of  five  centuries  of  Israel's  history. 
They  were  freely  elaborated  In  the  exile  by  priests 
and  scribes,  who  had  in  mind  the  experience 
through  which  the  nation  had  passed  after  the 
time  of  David  and  Solomon,  when  It  was  divided 
into  two  kingdoms,  both  of  which  had  been  de- 
stroyed by  powerful  enemies,  with  deportation  of 
the  ruling  class,  as  was  the  practice  of  conquering 
nations  at  that  time.  It  was  devoutly  believed 
that  all  the  calamities  that  befel  Ephralm  and 
Judah  had  been  brought  upon  them  by  the  God 
of  Israel  as  punishment  for  their  sins,  especially 
In  falling  away  from  his  worship  and  lusting  after 
other  gods  and  the  practices  of  their  cults. 

While  this  was  believed,  there  was  an  invin- 
cible faith  in  the  goodness  of  Israel's  God  and  his 
love  for  the  people  of  his  choice,  in  his  sacred 


THE  JEWISH  LAW  251 

covenant  with  the  ancestor  of  the  tribes,  and  In 
the  fulfilment  of  his  promises.  This  faith  had 
been  deeply  and  powerfully  impressed  by  the 
prophets  before  and  during  the  exile,  and  was 
excited  into  new  fervour  on  the  release  from  cap- 
tivity by  the  Persian  conquest  of  Babylon.  Then 
the  devout  souls  of  priests  and  scribes,  in  the  new 
hope  of  greatness  and  glory  for  the  kingdom  of 
ZIon,  were  intent  upon  establishing  a  system  of 
worship  which  should  hold  the  people  in  allegiance 
to  the  Lord  and  keep  them  from  contamination 
by  association  with  worshippers  of  inferior  dei- 
ties. Hence  the  elaborate  system  of  sacrifices, 
observances  and  ceremonies  which  they  devised, 
based  upon  the  doctrine  that  the  people  and  all 
they  had  belonged  to  their  God  and  must  be  de- 
voted to  his  service  In  order  to  save  them  from 
such  calamities  as  their  fathers  had  passed 
through,  and  to  make  of  them  a  great  and  pros- 
perous people  who  should  ultimately  rule  the  na- 
tions by  the  power  of  that  God,  to  whom  they 
were  to  devote  their  lives,  their  persons  and  their 
property. 

While  the  ethical  principles  Inherited  from  the 
prophets  were  not  lost,  their  vitality  was  impaired 
in  the  stress  laid  upon  formal  observances  and 
ceremonies.  As  a  whole  this  law,  as  finally  ac- 
cumulated and  consecrated  In  those  days  of  sub- 
mission to  Persian  authority  and  of  deferred 
hopes,  is  an  unattractive  and  uninspiring  mass  of 


252    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

dead  letter,  of  interest  chiefly  as  an  illustration  of 
the  growth  and  decay  of  a  people.  Its  ethical 
standard  is  not  higher  than  that  which  was  already 
appearing  in  Greek  literature  and  philosophy. 
Even  the  conception  of  deity  after  the  exile,  at 
least  among  the  priests  who  assumed  to  administer 
the  law  and  to  control  the  worship,  was  less  lofty 
than  that  to  be  found  in  the  poetry  and  philosophy 
of  Greece  at  the  time  of  the  second  temple. 
Nevertheless,  the  influence  of  this  Mosaic  heritage 
upon  the  later  religious  development  and  upon 
the  destiny  of  mankind  for  ages  has  no  parallel 
in  human  history. 


XI 

THE   PRIESTLY    HISTORY 

After  the  priestly  commonwealth  of  the  Jews 
and  the  new  sacrificial  and  ritual  system  of  the 
restored  temple  had  been  established  for  some 
time,  and  the  law  had  long  been  closed  against 
further  change,  except  that  wrought  in  its  spirit 
and  application  by  the  endless  interpretation  and 
comment  of  rabbis,  the  need  appears  to  have  been 
felt  of  recasting  the  history  of  the  people  to  make 
It  conform  more  closely  and  consistently  with  the 
doctrine  of  God's  sovereignty  over  his  chosen  peo- 
ple. What  was  especially  sought  was  support  for 
the  theory  that  the  existing  development  had  not 
only  a  divine  origin  In  the  laws  of  Moses,  but 
divine  direction  throughout  the  history  of  the 
kingdoms.  Judea,  Syria  and  Asia  Minor  had 
passed  under  the  rule  of  Greece  after  the  con- 
quests of  Alexander,  and  the  hope  of  secular 
power  for  the  Jewish  state  had  grown  dim,  though 
it  did  not  perish.  It  must  have  been  about  the 
end  of  the  fourth  century  B.  C,  not  far  from  the 
year  300,  that  a  temple  priest  or  Levite,  evidently 
associated  with  the  ritual  worship,  undertook  the 
task  of  recasting  the  history. 

253 


254    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

First  there  was  the  period  of  the  return  from 
exile  which  was  the  prelude  to  the  establishment 
of  the  ecclesiastical  regime  which  had  not  been 
covered  In  any  existing  record.  For  this  there 
appears  to  have  been  some  imperfect  and  dis- 
jointed material,  part  of  it  a  fragmentary  memoir 
by  Ezra,  the  priest  who  had  brought  back  the  con- 
tingent that  returned  in  458  B.  C.  by  permission 
of  Artaxerxes,  and  another  part  a  more  complete 
memoir  of  Nehemlah,  the  Jewish  cup-bearer  of 
that  monarch,  who  some  twelve  years  later  had 
been  permitted  to  go  to  Jerusalem  to  assist  In  re- 
building the  walls  and  restoring  the  worship,  and 
was  made  governor  of  the  Persian  province. 
There  were  older  documents,  partly  in  the  Ara- 
maic tongue,  relating  chiefly  to  the  events  of  the 
first  return  under  Zerubbabel  and  the  priest 
Jeshua,  or  Joshua.  Much  doubt  has  been  cast 
upon  the  authenticity  of  this  older  material,  but 
all  was  freely  used  by  the  compiler  of  the  present 
books  with  variations  of  his  own. 

It  Is  the  conclusion  of  the  learned  in  such  mat- 
ters that  the  books  known  as  "  Ezra "  and 
"  Nehemlah,"  originally  one  and  without  title, 
forming  a  kind  of  pendant  to  the  Book  of 
*'  Chronicles,"  were  compiled  by  the  author  of 
that  book  before  his  main  work  was  undertaken. 
It  win  be  observed  that  the  two  works  are  clum- 
sily linked  together  by  a  repetition  at  the  end  of 
Chronicles  of  the  opening  verses  of  Ezra,  which 


THE  PRIESTLY  HISTORY         255 

breaks  off  In  the  middle  of  a  sentence.  It  does 
not  matter  which  was  completed  first,  but  It  will 
be  convenient  to  glance  at  the  composition  of 
''  Ezra  "  and  "  Nehemlah  "  before  considering 
the  more  systematic  production  In  which  the  prag- 
matic purpose  Is  more  conspicuous. 

Apart  from  the  fact  that  the  version  of  the  de- 
cree of  Cyrus  with  which  the  book  of  Ezra  begins 
does  not  agree  with  that  said  to  have  been  after- 
wards looked  up  by  order  of  Darius,  there  Is  no 
reason  for  accepting  It  as  In  the  least  authentic  In 
form.  The  language  relating  to  the  "  God  of 
heaven  "  and  his  "  house  "  and  his  "  people  "  Is 
not  that  which  the  Persian  monarch  would  be 
likely  to  use.  The  statement  about  the  bringing 
back  of  treasures  from  Babylon  by  ^'  priests  and 
Levltes,"  before  the  distinction  between  these  had 
been  established.  Is  that  of  the  Chronicler  himself, 
and  is  of  dubious  accuracy.  The  enumeration  of 
the  returning  families  was  part  of  the  older 
Hebrew  material  and  may  or  may  not  be  of  his- 
torical validity.  In  the  account  of  the  setting  up 
of  an  altar  and  laying  the  foundations  of  the  tem- 
ple, the  compiler  carries  back  ceremonies  of  his 
own  day  to  celebrate  the  event.  The  account  Is 
fanciful. 

The  desire  of  those  who  had  remained  In  the 
land  to  join  In  rebuilding  the  temple  was  repulsed 
by  the  returned  exiles,  which  led  to  hindrances 
that  delayed  the  work  until  the  time  of  Darius. 


256    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

The  account  of  the  plots,  the  charges  of  rebellion 
against  Persian  authority,  and  the  appeal  to 
Darius  and  its  result,  is  drawn  from  the  old 
Aramaic  document  and  is  not  to  be  trusted  as 
history,  though  It  may  reflect  actual  events  in 
vague  outline.  It  mixes  occurrences  in  the  time 
of  Darius,  Xerxes  and  Artaxerxes  in  a  confused 
way,  and  leaves  the  result  in  doubt,  but  the  chron- 
icler interjects  after  a  statement  that  the  elders 
of  the  Jews  finally  "  builded  and  prospered " 
through  the  prophesying  of  Haggai  and  Zecha- 
riah,  the  alleged  fact  that  "  they  builded  and  fin- 
ished it  (the  temple),  according  to  the  command- 
ment of  God,  and  according  to  the  decree  of 
Cyrus,  Darius  and  Artaxerxes."  Such  a  decree 
might  span  about  a  hundred  years  and  it  would 
be  a  still  longer  time  before  such  a  celebration 
of  the  passover  as  is  described  could  have  taken 
place.  The  description  is  not  more  anachronistic 
than  the  reference  to  the  "  King  of  Assyria  whose 
heart  the  Lord  had  turned  to  his  people  to 
strengthen  their  hands  in  the  work  of  the  house  of 
God,  the  God  of  Israel." 

These  disjointed  and  uncertain  statements  serve 
to  bring  us  down  to  the  time  of  Ezra.  The  In- 
troductory statement  regarding  his  permission  to 
go  up  to  Jerusalem  seems  to  have  been  drawn  In 
substance  from  his  own  memoir,  but  the  alleged 
copy  of  a  letter  of  Artaxerxes,  said  to  have  been 
given  to  him,  is  from  the  doubtful  Aramaic  docu- 


THE  PRIESTLY  HISTORY         257 

ment.  The  rest  of  the  book  Is  made  up,  with 
some  modification  by  the  Chronicler,  from  the 
authentic  memoir  of  the  priest  himself.  It  re- 
lates chiefly  to  the  journey  to  Jerusalem;  the  mor- 
tification of  the  good  man  on  finding  that  Jews 
had  intermarried  with  *'  the  peoples  of  the  land," 
so  that  the  "  holy  seed  had  mingled  themselves  " 
with  the  unholy,  his  confession  and  prayer  in  be- 
half of  the  people  on  account  of  this  transgression, 
the  solemn  pledge  and  covenant  against  its  contin- 
uance, and  a  register  of  the  chief  offenders  who 
had  taken  *'  strange  wives." 

With  an  abrupt  break  from  Ezra  the  memoir 
of  Nehemiah  is  introduced,  which  gives  a  simple 
and  straightforward  account  of  his  mission  to 
Jerusalem  through  the  favour  of  Artaxerxes,  and 
the  trouble  he  had  in  accomplishing  his  purpose 
on  account  of  the  plots  and  intrigues  of  adver- 
saries who  sought  to  thwart  his  efforts.  Nehe- 
miah appears  in  his  own  account  in  a  pleasing 
light,  as  a  devout  but  shrewd  and  capable  man, 
who  trusted  in  the  Lord  but  omitted  no  precau- 
tion or  effort  on  his  own  part  to  make  the  Lord's 
help  effective.  He  had  a  naive  way  of  discerning 
the  purpose  of  the  Lord  and  circumventing  his 
enemies,  invoking  at  times  blessings  upon  him- 
self, and  curses  upon  them.  The  genealogy  of 
"  them  which  came  up  at  the  first  "  Nehemiah 
appears  to  have  found  at  Jerusalem  and  attached 
to  his  account  of  building  up  the  walls  of  the  city, 


258     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

and  the  compiler  of  the  varied  material  did  not 
omit  it,  though  he  had  already  introduced  it  in 
the  Book  of  Ezra. 

The  account  of  the  reading  of  the  book  of  the 
law  and  the  ceremonies  attending  it  is  regarded 
as  having  been  drawn  in  substance  from  the  mem- 
oir of  Ezra,  while  the  reference  to  the  distribu- 
tion of  families  and  similar  statistical  material  is 
from  uncertain  sources.  The  chronicler  describes 
the  dedication  of  the  walls  and  the  ceremony  of 
purification  in  his  own  way,  by  a  free  use  of  the 
materials  in  his  hands,  but  in  the  last  chapter  of 
the  Book  of  Nehemiah,  after  the  first  three  verses, 
we  have  again  the  unadulterated  memoir  of  the 
energetic  representative  of  Persian  authority  and 
the  faithful  guide  of  his  own  struggling  people. 

He  had  returned  from  Persia  after  an  absence 
and  found  things  going  wrong.  He  took  them 
in  hand  with  characteristic  zeal,  giving  special  at- 
tention to  enforcing  a  strict  observance  of  the 
Sabbath  and  putting  a  stop  to  that  nefarious  prac- 
tice of  marrying  "  strange  women  "  on  the  part  of 
the  priests  and  Levites.  We  would  gladly  know 
more  of  Nehemiah  and  his  reforms,  but  in  this 
fragmentary  and  incoherent  work  we  only  get 
vivid  glimpses  of  a  transition  period  in  the  life  of 
Jerusalem,  sadly  at  variance  with  what  the  proph- 
ets and  poets  had  hoped  and  prayed  for  and  pre- 
liminary to  something  very  different  from  what 
had  been  promised  of  national  power  and  glory. 


THE  PRIESTLY  HISTORY         259 

Turning  now  to  the  Book  of  Chronicles,  orig- 
inally one  but  in  modern  versions  divided  into 
two,  we  find  that  it  covers  the  period  anterior  to 
the  reign  of  David  with  genealogies,  beginning 
with  Adam,  with  occasional  reference  to  legendary 
incidents.  There  is  little  more  than  a  string  of 
names,  drawn  from  the  Pentateuch,  before  the 
families  of  Israel  are  taken  up,  and  no  reference 
is  made  to  the  deluge  or  to  the  Chaldean  origin 
of  Abraham.  The  names  in  all  these  genealogies 
are  mainly  those  of  places  and  clans,  which  were 
commonly  personified  in  the  early  writings. 
Numerous  instances  might  be  cited.  Precedence 
is  given  to  the  family  of  Judah,  who  is  said  to 
have  had  five  sons,  three  of  them  the  offspring 
of  a  Canaanitess,  and  two  of  his  daughter-in-law 
Tamar.  David  is  made  to  descend  from  one  of 
the  latter,  and  the  genealogy  of  his  "  house  "  is 
apparently  carried  down  to  the  writer's  own  time 
through  Zerubbabel  and  several  succeeding  gen- 
erations. There  is  much  confusion  in  the  bald 
way  of  stating  the  names,  originally  without  punc- 
tuation, but  nowhere  else  is  there  any  record  of 
descendants  of  Zerubbabel,  the  prince  who  led 
from  Babylon  the  first  contingent  of  returning 
exiles. 

After  the  tracing  of  David's  line  to  the  end, 
there  is  a  repetition  of  the  genealogy  of  Judah 
with  five  sons,  but  those  of  Canaaanite  maternity 
are  omitted.     It  should  be  noticed  that  while  in 


26o    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

the  ancient  story  the  sons  of  Jacob  were  left  In 
Egypt,  and  an  interval  of  four  hundred  years  is 
said  to  have  elapsed  before  the  deliverance  of 
their  descendants,  there  Is  here  no  recognition  of 
such  a  break,  and  the  names  of  tribes  are  used 
as  those  of  men  who  actually  peopled  the  country. 
There  is,  In  fact,  no  allusion  to  the  bondage  and 
deliverance.  Some  hint  is  given  of  the  dispersion 
of  Simeon  and  it  Is  said  that  Reuben  and  Gad  and 
the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh,  East  of  the  Jordan, 
lapsed  Into  Idolatry  and  that  God  stirred  up  the 
spirit  of  Pul,  King  of  Assyria  and  Tiglath-Pileser, 
King  of  Assyria,  and  they  carried  away  the  offend- 
ing tribes  "  unto  this  day."  Historically,  Pul 
and  Tiglath-Pileser  were  the  same  person,  who  In- 
vaded Syria  and  Samaria  and  may  have  transported 
the  leading  Gileadites,  as  they  were  called  in  his 
day,  though  there  is  no  mention  of  that  In  the 
Book  of  Kings.  It  Is  Incidentally  stated  that 
Reuben's  birthright  had  passed  to  Joseph,  as  the 
Idolatry  of  the  former  was  apparently  considered 
by  this  writer  as  the  defilement  of  his  father's  bed, 
but  Judah  had  "  prevailed  above  his  brethren  and 
of  him  came  the  prince." 

The  priestly  writer  takes  occasion  In  setting 
forth  the  genealogy  of  Levi  to  derive  from  him 
the  priests  as  the  sons  of  Aaron  and  the  Levltes 
as  other  descendants,  and  to  assign  them  their 
several  functions,  though  these  distinctions  were 
unknown    before    the    exile.     He    even    enlarges 


THE  PRIESTLY  HISTORY         261 

upon  the  duties  of  the  Levltes  In  the  service  of 
song,  which  they  were  "  set  over  "  by  David,  a 
service  that  only  existed  In  the  restored  temple, 
five  or  six  centuries  after  David's  time.  Little 
account  Is  made  of  Joseph,  the  special  hero  of  the 
early  writers,  because  he  was  the  progenitor  of 
that  kingdom  of  Jeroboam  which  God  destroyed 
for  its  sins,  but  throughout  the  Chronicles  Ben- 
jamin is  attached  to  Judah.  There  is  a  curious 
illustration  of  the  personal  way  In  which  the  names 
of  tribes  and  families  are  used,  In  the  statement 
that  when  certain  sons  of  Ephralm  were  slain  by 
the  men  of  Gath  "  Ephralm  their  father  mourned 
many  days  and  his  brethren  came  to  comfort  him.'* 
Then  he  proceeded  to  beget  other  sons.  This  Is 
said  of  the  supposed  son  of  Joseph  who  never  left 
Egypt. 

Appended  to  these  genealogies  Is  a  brief  state- 
ment of  the  distribution  of  families  on  the  return 
from  the  exile  with  special  reference  to  the  priests 
and  Levltes.  All  this  is  preliminary  to  recasting 
the  history  from  the  death  of  Saul,  taking  inci- 
dental notice  of  the  northern  Kingdom  where  It 
closely  touches  the  course  of  events  In  Judah. 
Much  space  is  given  to  the  reign  of  David,  the 
revered  and  glorified  founder  of  the  kingdom  of 
Judah  and  the  exemplar  of  all  that  was  excellent 
and  devoted  in  the  service  of  the  God  of  Israel, 
as  he  was  viewed  at  the  time  of  the  writer.  He 
appears  as  a  wholly  different  character  from  that 


262    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

of  the  Book  of  Samuel.  There  is  no  reference  to 
his  early  freebooting  days  or  his  relations  with 
Saul  or  the  Philistines.  The  quasi  historical  ac- 
count begins  with  the  death  of  Saul,  which  Is  con- 
strued as  a  penalty  for  his  trespass  In  not  keeping 
the  word  of  the  Lord  and  In  asking  counsel  of 
one  that  had  a  familiar  spirit,  followed  by  the 
accession  of  David  to  the  throne,  first  at  Hebron 
and  then  at  Jerusalem.  Such  account  as  Is  given 
of  these  events  and  of  the  "  mighty  men  "  of 
David  Is  drawn  from  that  of  the  Book  of  Samuel, 
with  such  variation  as  suited  the  purpose  of  the 
writer. 

A  few  later  incidents  of  a  historical  char- 
acter are  drawn  from  the  same  source,  but  every- 
thing which  might  throw  discredit  upon  the  king 
is  omitted,  though  the  mutilating  of  conquered  and 
captive  enemies  with  saws  and  harrows  and  axes 
seems  not  to  have  been  regarded  as  of  that  kind. 
There  is  nothing  of  the  brutal  doings  of  Joab,  the 
wrong  done  to  Uriah  the  Hittite  or  scandals  In 
the  royal  family;  nothing  of  Absalom's  rebellion 
and  the  king's  humiliation;  nothing  of  David's 
physical  or  mental  condition  before  his  death  or 
the  Incidents  attending  the  succession  as  related 
in  the  first  two  chapters  of  Kings.  The  only 
case  of  offending  God  that  Is  referred  to  Is  that 
seemingly  Innocent  one  of  numbering  the  people, 
and  the  reason  for  not  omitting  that  is  that  It  led 
to  the  purchase  of  the  threshing  floor  of  the  Jebu- 


THE  PRIESTLY  HISTORY         263 

site,  which  was  to  become  the  site  of  "  the  house 
of  God."  But  It  was  Satan,  or  the  adversary, 
and  not  God  himself,  that  put  the  king  up  to  that 
sin.  In  the  original  version  that  incident  may- 
have  been  Intended  as  the  explanation  either  of 
an  epidemic  or  of  the  acquisition  of  the  temple 
site. 

The  leading  feature  of  the  bleached  and  re- 
coloured  story  of  David's  reign  Is  the  attribution 
to  him,  not  only  of  the  founding  of  the  temple  and 
the  preparation  of  all  the  plans  and  materials  of 
its  construction  and  equipment  as  a  place  of  wor- 
ship, but  of  the  organisation  of  Its  service  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  methods  developed  after  the 
exile.  On  every  ceremonial  occasion  throughout 
the  Book  of  Chronicles  the  priests  and  Levites  are 
brought  In  with  the  music  and  singing  and  ritual 
exercises  which  had  never  been  dreamed  of  In  con- 
nection with  the  sacrifices  of  the  first  temple. 
They  even  accompany  the  bringing  of  the  ark  of 
the  covenant,  first  from  the  house  of  Abinadab 
and  then  from  that  of  Obed-Edom,  the  Incidents 
of  which  are  taken  from  the  Book  of  Samuel. 
The  king  is  said  to  have  ordained  a  regular  serv- 
ice of  priests  and  Levites  with  musical  Instruments 
and  singing  before  the  ark  "  continually,"  and  to 
have  dedicated  that  shrine  with  a  hymn  of  thanks, 
which  Is  made  up  of  parts  of  three  different  psalms 
written  long  after  David's  time.  The  first  in- 
structions of  the  Lord  by  the  prophet  Nathan  re- 


264    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

garding  the  building  of  his  "  house,"  and  the 
king's  prayer  of  gratitude,  are  repeated  with  little 
variation  from  Samuel;  but  the  account  of  the 
preparation,  the  collecting  of  material  and  the 
elaborate  system  providing  for  the  services  of  the 
temple  and  the  administration  of  the  kingdom, 
are  original  with  the  Chronicler,  though  he  may 
have  drawn  from  previously  written  sources  that 
we  know  not  of. 

The  unhistorical  character  of  all  this  is  plain, 
not  only  from  its  inconsistency  with  the  older  ac- 
counts and  with  the  circumstances  and  conditions 
of  David's  time,  but  from  the  obvious  exaggera- 
tion of  what  is  stated  as  fact.  For  instance,  the 
gold  and  silver  said  to  have  been  collected  for 
use  in  building  and  decorating  the  temple  and  pro- 
viding it  with  the  appliances  of  worship,  estimated 
according  to  the  value  of  the  "  talent "  in  the 
writer's  time,  would  have  exceeded  the  sum  of 
$7,000,000,000,  which  is  many  times  the  wealth 
of  all  the  East  in  that  form  in  those  days.  Ex- 
aggeration of  a  similar  kind  characterises  other 
parts  of  this  chronicle  of  the  kings  of  Judah,  such 
as  statements  about  their  armed  forces.  David 
was  said  to  have  more  than  1,500,000  of  warriors 
and  Jehoshaphat  an  army  of  over  1,100,000. 
These  preposterous  statistics  are  little  more  def- 
inite in  significance  than  the  favourite  simile  that 
likened  multitudes  to  the  sand  which  is  upon  the 
seashore. 


THE  PRIESTLY  HISTORY         265 

David  needed  no  Ablshag  to  cherish  an  anaemic 
body  in  his  last  days,  but  died,  not  only  "  full  of 
days,  riches  and  honour,"  but  in  full  possession  of 
his  wonderful  faculties  and  devoted  piety,  depart- 
ing with  a  prayer  of  blessing  and  gratitude  and 
an  edifying  farewell  to   "  all  the   congregation  " 
of  the  princes  of  Israel,  the  princes  of  the  tribes, 
the  captains  and  rulers  and  mighty  men   of  his 
peaceful  realm.      Solomon  succeeded  without  any 
such  commotion  as  Is  described  in  the  Book  of 
Kings   and  with   no   occasion    for   avenging   past 
wrongs  or  guarding  against  future  trouble.     The 
story  of  his  going  up   to  the   "  high  place  "   of 
Gibeon  to  sacrifice  Is  repeated,  but  the  ''  Tent  of 
Meeting,"    of    which    the    compiler    of    Kings 
knew  nothing,  was  there,  and  It  was  not  In  a  dream 
that  the  Lord  appeared  to  him  and  rewarded  him 
with  "  riches,  wealth  and  honour,"  as  well  as  the 
wisdom  and  knowledge  for  which  he  asked. 

Solomon  is  not  magnified  in  this  account  as  much 
as  he  is  In  the  older  one,  but  he  Is  relieved  of 
some  of  the  grievous  faults  imputed  to  him  there. 
He  Is  placed  distinctly  lower  than  the  exalted  and 
revered  figure  of  his  father,  and  in  all  that  per- 
tained to  the  building  and  dedicating  of  the  tem- 
ple he  only  carried  out  his  father's  explicit  direc- 
tions. The  account  of  the  dedication  In  Kings 
IS  a  relatively  late  production,  but  it  Is  modified, 
elaborated  and  extended  In  Chronicles,  and  the 
Levitlcal  ceremony  of  music  and  song  Is  freely  In- 


266    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

troduced.  There  is  a  mere  statement  of  Solo- 
mon's joint  enterprise  with  Hiram,  or  Huram,  of 
Tyre  for  obtaining  gold  from  Ophir,  but  the 
Phoenician  only  furnished  him  with  vessels  and 
seamen.  The  story  of  the  visit  of  the  Queen  of 
Sheba  is  repeated  and  the  King's  wisdom,  wealth 
and  power  are  descanted  upon,  but  we  are  not  told 
of  any  marvellous  knowledge  of  animals  and  plants 
or  production  of  proverbs  and  songs.  There  is  a 
bare  allusion  to  his  having  married  a  daughter 
of  Pharaoh,  but  nothing  of  his  loving  many 
strange  women  or  having  seven  hundred  wives 
and  three  hundred  concubines,  or  of  his  having 
been  led  away  from  the  worship  of  the  Lord  to 
the  idolatry  of  other  gods.  Neither  is  there  any- 
thing of  the  revolt  of  Jeroboam,  or  of  the  greater 
part  of  the  kingdom  being  rent  away  on  account 
of  his  sins,  though  in  connection  with  the  revolt 
from  his  son  it  is  mentioned  that  Jeroboam  the 
son  of  Nebat  returned  from  Egypt  when  he  heard 
of  it,  whither  he  had  "  fled  from  the  presence  of 
King  Solomon.''  Of  the  King's  death  it  is  only 
said  that  he  "  slept  with  his  fathers  "  and  was 
*'  buried  in  the  City  of  David  his  father." 

Throughout  the  account  of  the  kings  of  Judah, 
from  Rehoboam  to  Zedekiah  and  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem,  there  is  the  distinct  purpose  of  em- 
phasising the  theocratic  doctrine  that  prosperity 
and  victory  always  followed  obedience  and  fidel- 
ity to  the  God  of  Israel,  and  that  reverse  or  calam- 


THE  PRIESTLY  HISTORY         267 

ity  was  invariably  the  result  of  Incurring  his 
displeasure  by  some  offence  against  his  law  or  dis- 
obedience to  "  his  word."  Rehoboam  is  not  so 
unqualifiedly  condemned  for  doing  evil  in  the 
sight  of  the  Lord  as  In  Kings,  and  there  Is  a 
fuller  account  of  his  reign.  His  prudent  failure 
to  attempt  to  suppress  the  Ephraimlte  rebellion 
was  due  to  the  warning  of  a  prophet,  and  during 
the  years  that  he  was  successfully  strengthening 
and  establishing  the  Kingdom  of  Judah  his  people 
walked  "  In  the  way  of  David  and  Solomon,"  but 
after  that  the  king  forsook  the  law  of  the  Lord, 
which  accounts  for  Shishak  of  Egypt  having  In- 
vaded the  country  and  plundered  the  temple  and 
the  palace.  The  only  reason  why  the  king  and 
the  city  of  Jerusalem  were  not  destroyed  alto- 
gether at  that  time  was  that  Rehoboam  "  humbled 
himself  "  and  *'  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  was  turned 
from  him." 

His  son  Abljah,  or  Abijam,  received  scant 
notice  In  the  Book  of  Kings,  as  he  "  walked 
in  all  the  sins  of  his  father,"  but  the  chroni- 
cler credits  him  with  a  notable  victory  over  Jero- 
boam of  Israel,  or  rather  he  credits  the  vic- 
tory to  the  Lord,  as  the  result  of  the  king's  con- 
demnation of  the  recreancy  of  Jeroboam's  people 
and  his  admission  of  his  own  dependence  upon  the 
God  of  his  fathers.  Abljah  Is  said  to  have  had 
an  army  of  400,000  against  800,000  on  the  side 
of  his  enemy,  but  the  Lord  saw  to  It  that  500,000 


268    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

of  the  latter  were  slain  and  that  several  towns 
were  captured.  This  victory  is  represented  as 
having  been  fatal  to  Jeroboam  and  nothing  is  said 
to  the  discredit  of  Abijah,  who  waxed  mighty  and 
took  unto  himself  fourteen  wives  and  begat  twen- 
ty-two sons  and  sixteen  daughters,  though  he 
reigned  only  three  years. 

Abijah's  victories  seem  to  have  resulted  in  ten 
years  of  peace  for  his  son  Asa,  but  in  doing  that 
which  was  *'  good  and  right  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Lord  his  God,"  Asa  had  occasion  to  clean  out 
idolatrous  practices  that  had  grown  up  under  his 
father,  even  to  destroying  an  "  abominable  im- 
age "  which  his  mother  had  "  for  an  Asherah." 
Notwithstanding  his  period  of  peace  and  prosper- 
ity, he  had  an  army  of  no  less  than  580,000,  but 
when  an  Ethiopian  army  of  a  million  came  up 
against  him  he  had  to  call  upon  the  Lord  for 
help,  which  did  not  fail  him.  The  whole  Ethi- 
opian horde  was  destroyed  "  before  the  Lord  and 
before  his  host,"  and  cities  were  taken  with  much 
spoil.  The  incident  of  purchasing  the  alliance 
of  Benhadad  of  Syria  against  Baasha  of  Israel, 
related  in  the  Book  of  Kings,  is  repeated.  Not- 
.withstanding  its  successful  result  the  king  was  re- 
^buked  by  Hanani,  the  Seer,  for  not  relying  wholly 
upon  the  Lord,  implying  that  af  he  had  done  so 
he  might  have  conquered  both  Baasha  and  Ben- 
hadad. Perhaps  it  was  for  this  fault  that  Asa 
.wgis  ,^fflicted  with  gQut,  at  least,  w.^s  "  disegse^ 


THE  PRIESTLY  HISTORY         269 

in  the  feet,"  and  "  yet  In  his  disease  he  sought  not 
to  the  Lord  but  to  the  physicians." 

These  things  are  stated  here  as  Illustrating  the 
obviously  unhlstorlcal  character  of  these  accounts 
and  their  purpose  of  Impressing  the  people  for 
whom  the  chronicler  wrote  with  the  doctrine  of 
entire  dependence  upon  God  and  obedience  to  his 
commands  as  the  sole  means  of  attaining  success 
or  escaping  calamity.  This  appears  still  more 
strikingly  In  the  account  of  the  reign  of  Jehosha- 
phat,  which  Is  disjointed  and  confused  In  the  Book 
of  Kings,  but  Is  presented  quite  systematically 
here.  This  king  Is  magnified  above  all  others 
that  reigned  In  Judah  after  David  and  Solomon. 
The  Lord  Is  said  to  have  been  with  him  "  because 
he  walked  In  the  first  ways  of  his  father  David." 

He  Is  not  only  credited  with  removing  the  high 
places  and  the  Asherim  but  with  sending  out 
princes  and  Levltes  and  priests  throughout  the 
kingdom  to  teach  the  book  of  the  law  to  the  peo- 
ple, a  book  which  did  not  exist  within  the  mean- 
ing of  the  chronicler  at  that  time  any  more  than 
did  the  orders  of  priests  and  Levltes.  But  the 
result  was  that  the  fear  of  the  Lord  fell  upon 
the  kingdoms  round  about  and  they  Incontinently 
sent  rich  gifts  unto  King  Jehoshaphat.  The 
story  of  his  joining  Ahab  of  Israel  In  a  campaign 
against  Syria  Is  repeated  from  Kings  without 
substantial  variation  and  with  no  more  serious 
consequence  than  a  rebuke  from  Jehu  the  son  of 


270    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

Hanani  the  Seer  for  helping  the  wicked  and  loving 
them  that  hate  the  Lord.  The  "  good  things  '' 
found  in  him  saved  him  from  the  wrath  that  was 
upon  him  "  before  the  Lord."  As  if  to  make 
amends  for  this  fault,  the  king  is  represented  as 
setting  judges  in  the  land  from  the  Levites  and 
priests  and  heads  of  families  and  enjoining  upon 
them  righteous  judgment  "  not  for  men  but  for 
the  Lord." 

After  that  a  great  multitude  of  the  children  of 
Moab  and  the  children  of  Ammon  were  reported 
to  be  coming  up  against  him  "  from  beyond  the 
sea  from  Syria,"  wherever  that  could  have  been; 
and  though  he  had  an  army  of  1,160,000 
*'  mighty  men  of  valour,"  he  "  feared  and  set 
himself  to  seek  unto  the  Lord."  He  proclaimed 
a  fast  and  gathered  the  people  together  and 
prayed  the  Lord  to  save  them  in  their  affliction 
as  they  had  "  no  might  against  this  great  com- 
pany "  that  came  up  against  them,  and  knew  not 
what  to  do.  As  a  result  of  this  reliance  upon 
the  Lord  instead  of  his  huge  army,  the  spirit  of 
the  Lord  came  upon  a  son  of  a  Levite  to  assure 
him  that  he  need  not  fight,  but  only  had  to  stand 
still  and  "  see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord,  O  Judah 
and  Jerusalem."  So  they  only  worshipped  "  with 
an  exceeding  loud  voice,"  and  the  next  day  with 
the  ever  present  Levites  they  sang  unto  the  Lord 
and  praised  the  beauty  of  holiness.  The  Lord 
saw  to  the  destruction  of  the  children  of  Moab, 


THE  PRIESTLY  HISTORY         271 

the  children  of  Ammon  and  the  inhabitants  of 
Mount  Seir,  and  Jehoshaphat  and  his  army  had 
only  to  gather  the  spoil,  which  took  three  days, 
and  return  to  Jerusalem  in  triumph  to  the  music 
of  psalteries  and  harps  and  trumpets. 

This  may  be  taken  as  an  extreme  example  of 
the  chronicler's  manner  of  writing  history.  He 
made  no  use  of  the  story  in  Kings  of  Jehoshaphat's 
joining  with  Jehoram  of  Israel  in  an  expedition 
against  Moab,  which  did  not  result  so  trium- 
phantly. Mention  is  made  from  that  source  of  his 
joining  with  Ahaziah  to  build  ships  for  the  trade 
to  Tarshlsh,  which  resulted  in  the  ships  being 
broken  up  because  he  "  did  very  wickedly  "  in 
joining  with  the  King  of  Israel  in  the  enterprise, 
as  a  prophet  did  not  fail  to  inform  him. 

The  older  account  of  Jehoshaphat's  sinful  son 
Jehoram  who  married  a  daughter  of  Ahab  is 
somewhat  improved  upon,  and  he  is  made  to  die 
of  a  dreadful  disease  of  the  bowels  In  consequence 
of  his  sins.  A  novel  feature  of  this  version  of 
his  reign  is  a  written  message  from  the  prophet 
Elijah  warning  him  of  his  fate  for  following  the 
example  of  Ahab  and  for  slaying  his  brethren 
who  were  better  than  himself.  The  account  of 
the  brief  reign  of  Ahaziah,  the  usurpation  of 
Athallah,  the  queen  mother,  the  hiding  of  Joash 
and  his  being  raised  to  the  throne  at  the  age  of 
seven  by  a  plot  led  by  the  priest  Jehoiada,  is  re- 
peated with  variations  from  the  Book  of  Kings. 


272    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

The  chief  variation  consists  in  bringing  in  the 
Levites  to  take  the  place  of  the  military  men  of 
the  older  version,  as  more  appropriate  to  a  scene 
occurring  in  the  house  of  the  Lord. 

The  account  of  the  repairs  to  this  sacred 
edifice  and  collecting  funds  for  the  purpose 
in  the  reign  of  Joash  is  materially  modified 
in  order  to  give  the  priests  and  Levites  their 
proper  place  in  it.  The  fact  that  Joash  came 
to  a  violent  end  had  to  be  more  satisfactorily 
accounted  for.  So  it  is  made  to  appear  that 
after  the  death  of  the  aged  priest  Jehoiada, 
the  king  went  sadly  wrong  in  forsaking  the  house 
of  the  Lord  and  serving  the  Asherim  and  idols, 
and,  when  remonstrated  with  by  the  son  of  the 
dead  priest,  having  that  rash  mentor  stoned  to 
death.  As  a  result  a  Syrian  army  came  to  Judah 
and  Jerusalem  and  were  permitted  by  the  Lord 
to  play  havoc  and  carry  off  spoil  to  Damascus. 
Moreover,  the  king  was  afflicted  with  "  great  dis- 
eases "  and  was  killed  in  his  bed  by  his  own  serv- 
ants and  was  not  buried  in  the  sepulchres  of  the 
kings.  All  the  Book  of  Kings  has  about  this 
calamitous  end  of  the  reign  of  Joash  is  a  statement 
that  Hazael  of  Syria  came  up  against  Jerusalem 
and  the  king  hired  him  with  the  treasures  of  the 
temple  and  palace  to  go  away,  after  which  his 
servants  made  a  conspiracy  and  slew  him  in  the 
house  of  Millo,  but  he  was  nevertheless  *'  buried 
with  his  fathers  in  the  city  of  David." 


THE  PRIESTLY  HISTORY         273 

Amazlah  the  son  of  Joash  seems  to  have  taken 
his  father's  fate  to  heart,  at  least  for  a  time.     The 
compiler  of  Kings  says  that  he  did  that  which 
was  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  "  yet  not  like 
his  father  David,"  but  *'  according  to  all  things 
as  Joash   his   father   did."     The   chronicler   says 
that  he  "  did  that  which  was  right  in  the  eyes  of 
the  Lord,  but  not  with  a  perfect  heart."     Both 
accounts  of  his  reign  are  brief  and  do  not  vary  in 
any   significant  way;   but   in   that   of   his   son, — 
Azariah     m     Kings     and     Uzziah     in     Chron- 
icles,—  the  author  of  the  latter  book  gives   an- 
other striking  illustration  of  his  manner  of  revis- 
ing history  with  a  purpose.     Although  it  is  said 
that  Azariah  reigned  fifty-two  years  and  did  that 
which  was  right  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  except 
that  the  "  high  places  "  were  not  removed,  against 
which  there  was  no  condemnation  until  the  pro- 
mulgation of  the  Deuteronomic  law  more  than  a 
hundred  years  later,  the  only  fact  alleged  about 
him  by  the  compiler  of  the  Book  of  Kings  Is  that 
the  Lord  smote  him  *'  so  that  he  was  a  leper  unto 
the  day  of  his  death  and  dwelt  in  a  several  house," 
while  his  son  Jotham  judged  the  people. 

Why  should  he  be  smitten  with  leprosy  if  he 
did  that  which  was  right?  The  chronicler  under- 
takes to  explain  that  In  accordance  with  the  doc- 
trine of  the  theocratic  rule  In  Judah.  As  long 
as  Uzziah  sought  the  Lord,  God  made  him  to 
prosper,   and  evidence  is  given  of  his  success  in 


274    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

war  with  a  *' mighty  power"  of  307,500  men 
under  2,600  "  mighty  men  of  valour,"  heads  of 
father's  houses,  and  of  his  building  of  towers  and 
battlements  and  engines  of  war.  He  also  had 
cattle  and  vineyards  and  fruitful  fields,  but  when 
he  was  strong,  his  heart  was  lifted  up  and  he  tres- 
passed against  the  Lord  by  going  Into  the  temple 
to  bum  Incense  upon  the  altar.  This  served  at 
once  to  explain  his  leprosy  and  to  give  warning 
that  the  priest's  office  in  the  temple  was  not  to 
be  usurped  with  Impunity  by  the  secular  authority, 
however  high. 

The  reign  of  Jotham  Is  dismissed  almost  as 
briefly  as  In  Kings  and  with  no  material  varia- 
tion, but  characteristic  changes  are  made  by  the 
chronicler  In  the  older  account  of  those  of  Ahaz 
and  Hezekiah.  It  Is  agreed  that  Ahaz  was  alto- 
gether a  bad  king,  but  It  will  be  remembered  that 
the  alliance  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Syria  against 
Judah  was  regarded  with  contempt  by  the  prophet 
Isaiah,  and  that  It  was  really  defeated  by  Ahaz 
hiring  the  Assyrian  TIglath-PIleser  to  attack 
Damascus.  But  the  chronicler  declares  that  the 
Lord  delivered  Ahaz  into  the  hand  of  the  king  of 
Syria,  who  carried  away  a  great  multitude  of  cap- 
tives to  Damascus,  and  Into  the  hand  of  the  king 
of  Israel,  who  "  slew  In  Judah  a  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  In  one  day  "  and  carried  away 
two  hundred  thousand  captives  with  much  spoil. 
There  is  an  edifying  story  of  the  release  of  these 


THE  PRIESTLY  HISTORY         275 

captives,  but  Ahaz  continued  to  be  pestered  with 
enemies,  and  Tiglath-Pileser,  Instead  of  helping 
him,  ''  distressed  him,"  and  had  to  be  hired  with 
treasures  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  to  leave  him 
in  peace. 

Hezekiah,  as  we  know,  set  out  to  reform  the 
worship  and  followed  closely  In  the  footsteps  of 
the  great  exemplar  David;  but  with  the  chronicler 
the  purifying  of  the  temple  and  the  re-establish- 
ment of  the  sacrifices  and  offerings  had  to  be 
assigned  to  the  priests  and  i^evltes,  with  all  the 
ritual  accompaniment  of  his  own  time.  He  also 
has  the  passover  and  the  feasts  celebrated  In  a 
manner  unknown  In  the  time  of  Hezekiah,  and 
not  at  all  In  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  Isaiah, 
who  according  to  the  older  book  was  the  chief 
adviser  of  that  king.  In  this  book  the  prophet 
is  pushed  out  of  sight  by  the  priests  and  Levltes 
and  Is  only  mentioned  In  connection  with  the  In- 
vasion of  Sennacherib,  the  account  of  which  Is 
abridged  from  the  Book  of  Kings,  and  as  the 
author  of  a  ''  vision  "  In  which  the  acts  of  Heze- 
kiah were  written,  meaning  no  doubt  the  narrative 
parts  of  the  *'  prophecy "  which  relate  to  this 
reign.  The  version  of  Sennacherib's  discom- 
fiture. In  answer  to  the  prayers  of  the  king  and  the 
prophet.  Is  that  "  the  Lord  sent  an  angel,  which 
cut  off  all  the  mighty  men  of  valour,  and  the  lead- 
ers and  captains  In  the  camp  of  the  king  of  As- 
syria," so  that  he  ''  returned  with  shame  of  face 


276    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

to  his  own  land."  The  sickness  of  Hezekiah  is 
attributed  to  his  heart  being  "  lifted  up,"  which 
brought  wrath  upon  him,  but  he  humbled  himself 
and  got  well,  and  the  more  serious  consequences 
of  wrath  did  not  come  in  his  day. 

The  compiler  of  the  Book  of  Kings,  champion 
of  theocracy  as  he  was,  had  nothing  but  threats 
of  disaster  and  retribution  for  the  long  and  evil 
reign  of  Manasseh.  He  tells  of  nothing  befalling 
the  wicked  monarch  himself  or  the  nation  in  his 
time,  and  has  no  explanation  of  his  being  per- 
mitted to  reign  fifty-five  years.  This  was  ob- 
viously a  serious  lack  from  the  point  of  view 
of  the  author  of  Chronicles.  So  he  brings  "  the 
captains  of  the  host  of  the  King  of  Assyria  "  upon 
Manasseh  and  has  him  carried  away  to  Babylon 
in  chains  and  fetters.  There  in  his  distress  he 
"  humbled  himself  greatly  before  the  God  of  his 
fathers  "  and  prayed  unto  him.  As  a  result  of  his 
entreaty  he  was  brought  back  to  Jerusalem,  where 
he  "  took  away  the  strange  gods,  and  the  idol  out 
of  the  house  of  the  Lord,"  and  built  up  the  altar 
of  the  Lord  and  offered  thereon  sacrifices  of  peace 
offerings  and  of  thanksgiving,  and  "  commanded 
Judah  to  serve  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel." 
This  is  not  history,  but  it  was  necessary  to  vindi- 
cate the  doctrine  of  theocracy  as  it  was  understood 
In  the  time  of  the  writer,  three  centuries  and  more 
after  Manasseh's  day.  As  Amon  reverted  to  the 
evil  part   of  his   father's   example   and   did   not 


THE  PRIESTLY  HISTORY         277 

humble  himself  he  was  assassinated  In  two  years. 

According  to  the  older  records  the  reform  in 
the  worship  at  Jerusalem  was  Instituted  by  Joslah 
as  the  result  of  the  discovery  of  the  "  book  of  the 
law,"  but  as  the  chronicler  attributes  everything  re- 
lating to  the  temple  worship,  In  Its  origin  and  In 
its  perfection,  to  the  prevision  and  instruction  of 
David,  he  repeats  the  story  of  Joslah  from 
Kings  with  considerable  curtailment  and  makes 
use  of  it  chiefly  to  inject  his  priests  and  Levltes 
into  all  the  proceedings  and  especially  into  the 
celebration  of  the  passover.  He  makes  no  at- 
tempt to  account  for  the  unhappy  fate  of  Joslah, 
but  says  that  Jeremiah  lamented  him  and  that 
"  all  the  singing  men  and  singing  women  spake 
of  Joslah   In  their  lamentations  unto   this   day." 

The  remaining  events  to  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem and  the  "  carrying  away  "  to  Babylon  are 
disposed  of  In  the  most  summary  way,  and  the 
exile  is  spoken  of  as  the  fulfilment  of  the  word  of 
the  Lord  by  the  mouth  of  Jeremiah  "  until  the 
land  had  enjoyed  her  Sabbaths,  for  as  long  as  she 
lay  desolate  she  kept  Sabbath,  to  fulfil  three  score 
years  and  ten."  The  extent  of  the  exile  before 
the  decree  of  Cyrus  was  less  than  fifty  years,  but 
that  It  was  a  long  Sabbath  for  the  land  was  an  at- 
tractive idea.  The  interest  of  this  Book  of 
Chronicles  lies  chiefly  In  Its  exhibition  of  the  spirit 
of  the  post-exilic  community  and  the  use  It  made 
of  past  history  for  admonition  and  correction. 


XII 

ILLUSTRATIVE    TALES  —  RUTH,    JONAH,    ESTHER 

The  Jews  in  the  centuries  before  the  Christian 
era  included  in  the  mass  of  their  literature  which 
they  deemed  sacred  certain  stories  of  late  origin, 
because  they  were  supposed  to  illustrate  some  prin- 
ciple or  give  sanction  to  some  practice  of  their  re- 
ligion or  of  their  polity,  which  was  always  closely 
associated  with  their  religion.  The  notion  so 
long  cherished  that  whatever  they  saw  fit  to  in- 
clude was  divine  truth  led  devout  readers  of  that 
literature  to  treat  every  work  of  fiction  or  narra- 
tive as  if  it  were  a  statement  of  fact.  The  charm- 
ing idyllic  tale  of  *'  Ruth,"  because  its  scene  was 
laid  in  the  dim  ages  of  the  past,  "  when  the  judges 
judged,"  was  assumed  to  be  old  and  to  give  a 
truthful  account  of  the  origin  of  the  family  of 
David.  This  may  be  why  in  the  old  collections  it 
was  placed  after  the  Book  of  Judges  and  became  a 
kind  of  pendant  to  it. 

In  point  of  fact,  it  was  written  after  the  exile, 
though  learned  authorities  differ  in  giving  it  a 
date.  They  are  not  agreed  upon  the  motive  of 
its  writing  or  of  its  being  included  in  what  we 
have  been  treating  as  the  epic  of  the  Jewish  peo- 

278 


ILLUSTRATIVE  TALES  279 

pie.  It  does  not  greatly  matter  to  us,  so  long  as 
it  was  preserved  as  a  picture  In  that  great  work. 
The  most  plausible  explanation  Is  that  It  was  pro- 
duced not  long  after  the  time  of  Ezra  and  Nehe- 
miah,  as  a  gentle  protest  against  the  harsh 
measures  taken  regarding  those  who  had  married 
*'  strange  wives,"  that  Is,  women  who  were  not  of 
the  "  holy  seed  "  of  Israel.  It  tells  In  the  most 
enticing  way  of  one  foreign  damsel  In  the  olden 
time  who  had  married  a  child  of  one  of  Israel's 
noblest  families,  when  his  parents  were  driven  Into 
exile  by  famine,  a  favourite  mode  of  explaining 
expatriation;  and  who  returned  to  Bethlehem- 
Judah  with  the  mother-in-law,  after  she  had  been 
bereft  of  her  own  family,  to  be  taken  as  a  wife  by 
the  noblest  kinsman  of  her  deceased  husband,  in 
accordance  with  the  law  of  Israel.  To  give 
special  force  to  the  tale  as  a  lesson  on  the  subject 
of  such  marriages,  this  new  husband  is  represented 
to  have  been  the  direct  ancestor  of  Israel's  greatest 
king  and  most  revered  character. 

Neither  this  representation  nor  the  scrap  of 
genealogy  appended  to  the  story  by  a  later  hand, 
probably  drawn  from  the  genealogy  of  Judah  in 
Chronicles,  affords  the  slightest  evidence  of 
historical  fact,  and  all  the  learned  discussion  on 
that  point  Is  to  little  purpose.  The  only  tangible 
basis  upon  which  even  a  "  Midrasch  "  could  found 
a  claim  that  David  really  descended  from  Boaz 
and  Ruth  is  the  statement  in  the  Book  of  Samuel 


28o     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

that,  when  he  was  an  outlaw  and  Saul  was  seek- 
ing his  life,  he  placed  his  parents  under  the  care  of 
the  king  of  Moab.  Even  that  is  of  doubtful 
authenticity;  but,  as  there  is  no  other  allusion  to 
David's  descent  from  a  daughter  of  Moab  and  no 
reference  to  it  in  the  genealogies  of  Chronicles, 
it  is  absurd  to  take  the  representation  in  a  fanci- 
ful tale,  written  five  or  six  hundred  years  after 
David's  time,  as  evidence  of  a  historical  fact. 
That  kind  of  representation  was  common  in  re- 
gard to  much  more  serious  matters,  such  as  at- 
tributing all  the  law  to  Moses  and  all  the  psalms 
to  David.  Why  deprive  the  Jews  of  the  ancient 
liberty  of  the  imagination?  Ruth  Is  one  of  the 
most  charming  idyls  that  have  come  down  to 
us  from  ancient  times,  and  we  have  a  right  to  en- 
joy it  as  such,  without  regard  to  the  real  ancestry 
of  David  or  the  woes  of  them  that  were  torn  from 
their  alien  wives  In  the  hard  times  In  Judea  after 
the  exile. 

Another  tale  of  still  later  origin,  which  has  no 
particular  charm  and  only  escapes  being  grotesque 
because  it  makes  no  pretension  to  relating  fact, 
but  has  a  serious  purpose  in  illustrating  a  princi- 
ple and  impressing  a  lesson.  Is  that  of  the  prophet 
Jonah.  There  was  a  prophet  of  that  name  in 
Israel  in  the  time  of  Jeroboam  II,  and  there  was 
no  scruple  about  making  him  the  hero  of  the  story, 
though  he  is  not  placed  In  either  a  heroic  or  a 
prophetic  light.     It  is  absurd  to  talk  about  the 


ILLUSTRATIVE  TALES  281 

reality  of  his  experience  In  trying  to  escape  the 
Lord  when  commanded  to  go  to  Nineveh  and  cry 
out  against  the  wickedness  of  that  great  city,  and 
living  three  days  in  the  belly  of  a  fish  whence  he 
utters  a  prayer  made  up  of  scraps  from  psalms 
wholly  irrelevant  to  his  situation.  But  to  accept 
that  as  fact  is  but  little  more  of  a  strain  upon 
common  sense  than  to  believe  that  the  great  As- 
syrian capital  repented  in  sack  cloth  and  ashes  and 
turned  away  the  wrath  of  God  because  a  Hebrew 
prophet  walked  a  day's  journey  into  the  city  and 
declared  that  it  would  be  overthrown  in  forty  days. 
We  see  no  reason  why  the  prophet  should  be  so 
petulant  with  the  Lord  because  his  direful  pre- 
diction did  not  come  true  at  once,  in  spite  of  the 
universal  repentance  and  humiliation  in  Nineveh. 
He  had  more  reason  to  be  grieved  when  the 
gourd  that  grew  up  in  a  night  to  shield  his  head 
from  the  sun  while  he  waited  to  see  the  city's  de- 
struction withered,  leaving  his  head  unprotected; 
but  it  does  not  seem  to  be  pity  for  the  gourd  that 
made  him  grieve  when  he  felt  no  pity  for  the  pop- 
ulation that  he  had  doomed  to  destruction.  Now 
this  story  is  not  ridiculous,  because  it  was  not  in- 
tended to  be  taken  as  a  narrative  of  fact.  It  is 
not  skilful  as  a  work  of  literary  art,  but  it  has 
that  marvellous  brevity  of  graphic  realism  in  which 
Semitic  and  Arabian  story  tellers  have  been  adept 
*'  even  unto  this  day,"  however  ImjDrDbable  or  im- 
possible , their  statenients. 


282    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

It  also  impresses  the  lesson  that  Israel's 
God  was  not  so  implacable  that  when  he  ut- 
tered a  threat  of  destruction  he  was  bound  to 
execute  it,  even  though  the  people  against  whom 
it  was  directed  repented  of  their  iniquity  and  turned 
to  him.  It  may  likewise  have  been  intended 
to  convey  the  lesson  that  those  who  are  commis- 
sioned to  speak  for  the  Lord  cannot  evade  the  duty 
with  impunity.  Perhaps  it  was  intended  to  allay 
the  bitterness  of  those  in  later  Israel  who  resented 
the  failure  of  the  Lord  to  destroy  the  nations  that 
had  been  its  oppressors,  for  those  Jews  cherished 
an  intense  hatred  of  their  enemies.  As  it  was  in- 
cluded in  a  "  sacred  '^  collection,  these  various 
motives  may  be  reasonably  inferred,  and  modern 
interpretation  may  make  it  apply  to  the  mercy  and 
forgiveness  of  the  Almighty  for  individual  sinners 
who  repent  and  humble  themselves,  though  that 
was  no  part  of  the  original  intent.  This  little 
*'  book ''  of  Jonah  has  from  the  first  been  classed 
among  the  "  minor  prophets,"  for  no  reason 
except  that  it  bears  the  name  of  a  prophet  men- 
tioned in  the  Book  of  Kings,  who  is  the  chief  char- 
acter in  the  story.  It  is  not  the  work  of  a  prophet 
and  is  not  a  prophecy  in  any  sense  of  the  word. 

There  is  another  story  of  still  later  origin,  the 
motive  of  which  is  quite  different  from  that  of 
Jonah.  It  illustrates,  even  glorifies,  the  pride  and 
arrogance  of  the  Jews  under  their  oppressors, 
when  they  were  ruled  by  Syrian  kings,  and  makes 


ILLUSTRATIVE  TALES  283 

their  hatred  triumph  over  their  enemies  In  the  most 
ruthless  and  brutal  manner,  and  without  the  least 
compunction.  It  Is  not  In  the  spirit  of  humility 
and  submission,  generally  Inculcated  in  the  law  and 
prophets  and  In  many  of  the  psalms,  but  quite  the 
contrary.  The  story  of  Esther  was  probably  not 
written  earlier  than  the  first  half  of  the  second 
century  B.  C,  perhaps  In  the  hated  reign  of  An- 
tlochus  Epiphanes;  and  It  may  have  been  Intended 
to  stimulate  the  spirit  of  revolt  or  at  least  of  brave 
endurance.  It  Is  In  no  sense  religious  and  it  makes 
no  reference  to  the  God  of  Israel,  unless  It  be  cov- 
ertly In  the  message  of  Mordecal,  warning  Esther 
that  If  she  did  not  make  her  appeal  to  the  king, 
*'  then  shall  relief  and  deliverance  arise  to  the 
Jews  from  another  place,  and  thou  and  thy 
father's  house  shall  perish."  There  Is  no  reason 
for  the  assumption  that  there  was  an  avoidance 
of  the  "  sacred  name "  from  any  scruple.  In 
spirit  the  book  Is  far  from  being  religious,  and  It 
was  finally  Included  In  the  Jewish  canon  of  scrip- 
ture only  because  It  was  supposed  to  account  for 
the  origin  of  the  festival  of  the  Purlm.  But  not 
only  Is  the  account  fictitious;  Its  explanation  of  the 
Purlm  has  no  foundation  In  fact. 

To  accept  the  book  of  Esther  as  historical  or 
as  in  any  sense  a  narrative  of  facts  Is  no  more 
rational  than  believing  In  Jonah's  three  days'  so- 
journ In  the  stomach  of  a  "  great  fish."  It  Is  full 
of  Improbabilities  that  can  be  tested.     It  Is  a  clever 


284     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

work  of  fiction,  highly  suggestive,  in  its  realistic 
quality,  of  the  Arabian  Tales.  The  fact  that 
Ahasuerus  was  a  historical  king  of  Persia,  the 
Xerxes  of  the  Greeks,  is  no  more  reason  for  accept- 
ing the  story  as  true  than  the  fact  that  Haroun 
al  Raschid  was  a  real  person  is  ground  for  believ- 
ing all  the  tales  in  which  he  figures.  The  entire 
picture  of  the  Persian  Court  and  its  manners  in 
the  time  of  Xerxes  is  surely  fanciful,  and  Shushan, 
or  Susa,  was  not  a  palace  or  a  castle,  but  the  cap- 
ital of  the  Persian  empire.  Though  that  empire 
was  great  at  the  time,  it  did  not  have  the  extent 
attributed  to  it  in  the  story  and  did  not  consist  of 
a  hundred  and  twenty-seven  provinces. 

Mordecai  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  exiles 
carried  to  Babylon  with  Jeconlah,  or  Jehoiachin. 
That  was  In  597  B.  C.  and  the  reign  of  Xerxes  did 
not  begin  until  485,  a  hundred  and  twelve  years 
later.  This  crafty  and  implacable  Jew,  who  con- 
trived to  make  his  cousin  the  queen  of  Persia  and 
to  get  himself  exalted  to  the  highest  place  in  the 
kingdom,  is  represented  to  be  a  descendant  of 
KIsh  of  Benjamin,  father  of  Saul,  the  first  King 
of  Israel,  while  his  arch-enemy,  Haman,  was  of 
the  traditional  enemies  of  Israel,  the  Amalekltes, 
perhaps  a  descendant  of  that  King  Agag  said  to 
have  been  slain  by  the  prophet  Samuel,  as  he  Is 
called  the  Agaglte.  What  is  the  probability  that 
the  king  of  Persia  In  Its  proudest  days  would  have 
made  an  Amalekite  his  chief  minister,  to  be  sue- 


ILLUSTRATIVE  TALES  285 

ceeded  by  a  Jewish  exile  as  the  man  whom  the  king 
most  delighted  to  honour,  or  that  he  would  have 
taken  a  Jewess  as  his  favourite  queen  without 
knowing  her  origin?  That  he  would  have  put 
away  his  first  queen  for  the  reason  alleged,  or  that 
he  would  have  commanded  her  to  exhibit  her 
beauty  before  the  revellers  at  a  feast,  Is  sufficiently 
incredible,  and  if  the  queen  refused  to  appear  it 
would  be  greatly  to  her  credit. 

The  fact  that  the  names  of  the  chief  actors  In 
the  story  are  drawn  from  Babylonian  or  Elamite 
mythology,  is  another  evidence  of  its  purely  ficti- 
tious character.  Mordecal  was  derived  from  Mor- 
duk  and  Esther  from  Ishtar,  and  Vashtl  and 
Haman  were  names  from  the  mythology  of  Elam, 
the  most  ancient  part  of  Persia.  But  there  Is 
nothing  in  the  whole  story  that  conforms  to  human 
probability.  The  refusal  of  Mordecal  to  do  rev- 
erence, at  least  in  form,  to  Haman  as  the  king's 
chief  minister,  was  not  like  a  Jew  of  any  date;  and 
if  Haman  had  been  a  real  Persian  minister  in  the 
king's  favour,  and  If  he  chose  to  take  note  of  the 
incident  at  all,  he  would  have  made  short  work  of 
the  show  of  arrogance.  Instead  of  casting  lots  for 
all  the  months  of  the  year  to  fix  a  date  upon  which 
to  exterminate  all  the  Jews  In  the  empire.  Mak- 
ing this  use  of  the  lot  explain  the  name  Purim 
would  seem  trivial  even  If  Pur  meant  lot,  which 
it  did  not  In  any  known  language.  That  the  king 
should  be  bribed  with  ten  thousand  talents  of  silver, 


286     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

to  be  plundered  from  the  Jews,  to  consent  to  this 
wholesale  slaughter  throughout  the  provinces  and 
In  "  Shushan  the  palace,"  It  Is  ridiculous  to  suppose. 
The  story  of  Mordecal,  through  his  cousin  and 
former  ward  the  queen,  averting  this  slaughter 
and  turning  Haman's  scheme  upon  his  own  head.  Is 
cleverly  and  effectively  told;  but  when  it  comes  to 
inducing  the  Persian  potentate  to  permit  the  Jews 
in  the  provinces  to  slay  ''  of  them  that  hated  them 
seventy-five  thousand,"  to  kill  five  hundred  in 
Shushan  on  two  successive  days,  and  to  have  the 
ten  sons  of  Haman  hanged  on  the  second  day  after 
having  slain  them  on  the  first,  credulity  is  put  to 
a  pretty  severe  strain.  In  all  this  the  fair  Esther 
appears  in  anything  but  a  pleasing  light;  and 
Mordecai  in  his  exaltation  is  simply  loathsome. 
But  then,  this  is  a  story,  no  more  to  be  taken  as 
matter  of  fact  than  those  of  the  "  Calendars  "  of 
Bagdad.  It  is  Interesting,  not  as  accounting  for 
the  Purim  or  illustrating  the  care  of  Israel's  God 
over  his  oppressed  people,  but  as  illustrating  the 
character  and  spirit  of  the  Jews  in  Judea  in  the 
last  centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  the  spirit 
of  the  Maccabees  and  of  those  who  crucified  the 
gentle  teacher  of  Nazareth.  The  marvel  is  that 
Christian  preachers  and  teachers  should  so  long 
strive  to  make  it  a  part  of  "  divine  truth." 


XIII 

LYRICS,   SONGS,   AND   HYMNS 

Israel  did  not  differ  from  other  primitive  peo- 
ples In  the  order  of  Its  literary  development.  At 
the  beginning  of  Its  history  as  a  nation,  or  as  a 
congeries  of  affiliated  tribes  and  clans,  it  is  uncer- 
tain what  language  It  had,  and  it  was  some  time 
before  It  adopted  writing  from  the  Phoenicians. 
All  transmitted  expression  was  oral,  and  it  naturally 
took  the  shape  of  myths  and  stories  which  varied 
In  form  and  substance.  To  aid  memory  and  pre- 
serve the  form,  metrical  or  lyrical  expression  was 
an  early  development,  and  after  writing  came  Into 
use  this  attained  variety  and  symmetry  and  became 
more  and  more  artistic  with  the  advancement  of 
the  people.  Reference  has  been  made  in  the  early 
part  of  this  volume  to  collections  of  ancient  songs 
and  chants,  In  which  the  deeds  of  heroes  and  war- 
riors and  the  utterances  of  leaders  of  men  were 
embalmed  In  memory,  to  be  written  down  at  a  later 
time  and  to  become  the  basis  of  more  enduring 
literature.  Glittering  fragments  of  these  are 
found  Imbedded  in  the  early  narratives,  and  there 
is  evidence  of  more  underlying  the  surface.  The 
oldest  that  seems   fairly  complete,   though  sadly 

287 


288     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

mutilated  like  so  much  other  exhumed  treasure  of 
the  past,  is  the  '*  Song  of  Deborah  "  in  the  Book 
of  Judges.  Next  in  antiquity  of  those  preserved 
is  David's  elegy  on  the  death  in  battle  of  Saul 
and  Jonathan,  which  is  said  to  have  been  written 
afterwards  in  the  '*  Book  of  Jasher."  There  is 
also  a  strophe  attributed  to  the  same  royal  poet  on 
the  death  of  Abner  at  the  hand  of  Joab.  What 
more  of  his  may  have  been  taught  or  written  is 
not  recorded. 

The  "  Blessing  of  Jacob,'*  setting  forth  charac- 
teristics of  the  personified  tribes,  and  the  vaticina- 
tions about  Israel  imputed  to  Balaam  of  Peor, 
antedate  the  division  of  the  kingdom  and  are  older 
than  the  narratives  in  which  they  are  embodied; 
but  the  so-called  "  Blessing  of  Moses  "  is  a  prod- 
uct of  the  northern  kingdom  in  a  time  of  its  pros- 
perity, perhaps  after  the  victories  of  Joash  over 
Benhadad  II  of  Syria.  What  is  commonly  called 
the  "  Song  of  Moses  "  in  the  preceding  chapter 
of  Deuteronomy  is  a  much  later  production.  It 
looks  back  upon  the  history  of  the  people  from  the 
time  after  the  exile,  rehearsing  their  conduct  and 
its  consequences  in  the  form  of  prediction.  It  is 
plainly  a  retrospect,  ending  with  a  promise  of 
vengeance  upon  the  adversaries  of  the  Lord  and 
expiation  for  what  his  people  have  suffered  for 
their  own  wrongdoing.  It  is  represented  as  a  song 
dictated  to  Moses  by  God  himself,  to  be  a  witness 
when  evils  and  troubles  should  have  befallen  the 


LYRICS,  SONGS,  AND  HYMNS     289 

people,  as  It  was  foreseen  that  they  would.  Moses 
himself  Is  made  to  say  that  he  knows  that  after 
his  death  they  would  corrupt  themselves  and  turn 
aside  from  the  way  that  he  had  commanded,  and 
that  evil  would  befall  them  *'  In  the  latter  days." 
The  song  was  written  after  the  event  as  a 
justification  of  the  ways  of  God  In  dealing  with 
his  people. 

There  are  many  lyrical  passages  in  the  writings 
of  the  prophets,  some  of  them  of  a  highly  wrought 
and  artistic  character.  The  greater  part  of  these 
appear  to  be  of  post-exilic  origin,  but  some  of  them 
are  found  In  the  oldest  oracles.  In  the  course  of 
time  a  variety  of  metrical  forms,  appropriate  to 
the  sentiment  to  be  expressed  was  developed,  over 
which  there  has  been  much  learned  discussion ;  but 
the  characteristics  of  Hebrew  prosody,  little  of 
which  appears  In  modern  translation,  do  not  greatly 
concern  us.  Much  of  the  rhythm  Is  In  Idea  rather 
than  form,  and  In  sentences  and  phrases  rather 
than  syllables,  and  a  conspicuous  peculiarity  Is 
what  Is  called  the  parallelism  of  Hebrew  verse, 
the  repetition  of  the  Idea  In  different  words  or  the 
expression  of  contrasted  Ideas.  This  is  readily  re- 
produced, but  most  Imitations  of  the  original 
versification  are  not  reproductions.  There  was 
much  of  the  flow,  the  swing,  the  roll  or  mur- 
mur, and  the  ring  of  poetical  language  in  these 
passages,  and  not  a  little  of  the  effect  has  been 
reproduced  by  skilful  translation  In  English.     In 


290     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

some  of  the  lyrics,  even  of  the  most  serious  kind, 
there  is  a  good  deal  of  artificiality  of  structure. 

This  is  especially  true  of  the  "  Book  of  Lam- 
entations," which  is  the  oldest  of  the  complete 
collections  in  the  body  of  Jewish  scripture  that  are 
in  verse.  While  it  is  the  oldest  it  is  a  question 
whether  any  part  of  it  was  written  until  after  the 
exile  was  over,  though  a  part  is  believed  by  some 
authorities  to  have  been  produced  in  the  early  days 
of  the  "  captivity,"  when  the  siege  and  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  were  fresh  in  memory.  All  are 
agreed  that  the  five  separate  poems  do  not  belong 
to  the  same  period  and  did  not  emanate  from  the 
same  author,  and  that  there  never  was  any  ground 
for  attributing  any  part  of  them  to  the  prophet 
Jeremiah.  Some  regard  the  second  and  fourth, 
which  are  akin  and  probably  from  the  same  hand, 
as  the  oldest  and  as  belonging  to  the  early  years 
of  the  exile,  and  the  first  and  fifth  as  considerably 
later.  Others  make  the  fifth  the  oldest,  though 
placing  it  after  the  Persian  conquest,  but  all  agree 
that  the  third  is  the  latest  of  all,  belonging  to  the 
period  after  the  Greek  or  Macedonian  conquest. 
This  is  a  kind  of  dispute  with  which  we  do  not 
concern  ourselves,  accepting  only  general  conclu- 
sions that  affect  the  proper  understanding  of  what 
we  are  considering. 

The  Hebrew  title  and  the  Greek  equivalent 
have  the  meaning  of  ''  dirges,"  or  threnodies,  but 
only  the  first,  second  and  fourth  have  that  char- 


LYRICS,  SONGS,  AND  HYMNS     291 

acter.  These  are  what  are  called  alphabetical 
poems,  the  successive  verses  beginning  with  letters 
of  the  Hebrew  alphabet  in  their  regular  order, 
twenty-two  in  number;  and  there  is  a  kind  of  uni- 
formity in  their  rhythmical  structure.  The  first, 
which  is  later  than  the  other  two,  mourns  over  the 
solitude  and  desolation  of  Jerusalem,  personified 
as  the  widowed  daughter  of  Zion.  The  first  half 
is  in  the  words  of  the  poet,  but  in  the  second  half 
the  bereaved  city  itself  takes  up  the  strain  of  grief, 
of  confession  of  guilt  and  of  prayer  for  vengeance 
upon  her  enemies.  The  second  and  fourth  present 
terrible  pictures  of  the  humiliation  of  Jerusalem 
and  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  which  is  treated  as 
the  doing  of  the  Lord  as  a  punishment  for  iniq- 
uity. The  fourth  ends  with  an  imprecation  upon 
Edom,  the  bitterest  enemy  of  Israel,  though  a 
brother  nation,  and  it  is  declared  that  while  the 
punishment  of  the  daughter  of  Zion  is  accom- 
plished that  of  Edom  is  to  come. 

Chapter  five,  which  is  regarded  by  some 
authorities  as  older  than  these  dirges  over 
Jerusalem,  but  which  probably  belongs  to  the 
time  after  the  return  from  exile,  when  there 
was  a  sad  struggle  in  the  effort  to  rebuild  the 
city,  has  a  verse  for  each  of  the  Hebrew 
letters,  but  they  are  not  alphabetically  arranged. 
It  is  in  the  form  of  a  prayer  to  the  Lord 
by  the  people,  and  contains  a  pitiful  com- 
plaint of  the  forlorn  condition  in  which  calamity 


292    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

has  left  them,  and  of  their  subjection  to  strangers, 
with  "  servants  "  ruling  over  them.  While  there 
is  a  fervent  plea  that  the  Lord  turn  them  again 
to  himself,  it  ends  with  a  despairing  cry  that  he 
has  ''  utterly  rejected  "  them  and  Is  still  "  very 
wroth  '^  against  them.  This  may  have  arisen  in 
that  troublous  time  before  the  coming  of  Ezra 
and  Nehemlah,  or  it  may  have  been  In  a  later  day 
of  humiliation,  of  which  there  were  many. 

The  third  chapter  of  Lamentations  Is  a  lament, 
but  not  a  dirge.  The  verses  are  arranged  alpha- 
betically In  threes.  It  undoubtedly  belongs  to  a 
period  of  depression  after  the  Greek  conquest  and 
before  the  Maccabean  uprising,  but  not  In  the 
comparatively  comfortable  time  when  Palestine 
was  under  the  rule  of  the  Ptolemies.  It  is  partic- 
ularly interesting  for  the  personification  of  the 
suffering  community  as  a  man  who  has  seen  afflic- 
tion and  makes  his  appeal  to  the  Lord.  It  is 
the  kind  of  personification  that  appears  In  the 
"  suffering  servant  "  of  the  Lord  in  the  chapters 
attached  to  Isaiah.  It  is  full  of  confession  and 
submission  rather  than  of  complaint,  and  is  a 
humble  plea  to  the  Lord,  who  has  redeemed  the 
life  of  his  people  but  has  still  to  judge  their  cause 
and  save  them  from  their  enemies.  He  is  asked 
to  curse  these  enemies,  to  give  them  sorrow  of 
heart  and  destroy  them  from  under  heaven,  which 
savours  more  of  vengeance  than  of  assurance  of 
relief. 


LYRICS,  SONGS,  AND  HYMNS     293 

Contrasted  with  this  In  tone  and  in  colour  Is  that 
cheerful  string  of  lyric  gems  to  which  some  editor 
prefixed  the  title  "  The  Song  of  Songs,  which  is 
Solomon's."  It  was  not  Solomon's  and  had  no 
relation  to  Solomon,  and  It  Is  believed  to  have 
had  Its  origin  In  the  earlier  part  of  the  Greek 
period.  It  owes  its  preservation  in  the  Jewish 
canon  possibly  to  the  attribution  to  Solomon,  or 
that  may  have  been  given  to  it  to  justify  its  admis- 
sion, but  only  after  it  had  been  interpreted  as  sym- 
bolising the  love  of  Israel's  God  for  his  people. 
This  far-fetched  symbolism  was  carried  farther  by 
the  early  Christians  and  made  to  signify  Christ's 
love  for  his  church.  This  was  at  a  time  when  a 
devout  faith  would  accept  almost  anything  with- 
out qualms  of  reason. 

It  symbolises  nothing,  but  depicts  in  glowing 
terms  a  purely  human  love  of  man  and  woman, 
and  It  has  no  religious  significance  whatever;  but 
we  are  entitled  to  be  grateful  to  the  religious  spirit 
that  preserved  it  as  a  jewelled  ornament  to  gleam 
forever  upon  the  great  epic  of  Israel.  Since  Its 
secular  character  has  been  acknowledged  much 
learning  has  been  expended  upon  It  as  a  fascinating 
riddle.  The  failure  of  ancient  scribes  to  distin- 
guish Its  divisions  and  Its  characters,  and  the  lack 
of  care  In  copyists  who  transcribed  it  in  uncertain 
manuscript,  has  given  much  trouble  to  the  learned 
pundits.  First,  they  tried  to  make  a  little  musical 
drama  of  it,  as  if  it  were  enacted  on  a  stage,  with 


294    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

King  Solomon  and  a  beautiful  Shulamite  maiden 
among  the  characters,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
Hebrew  literature  had  no  drama  at  the  time  when 
the  greatest  of  Greek  literature  was  taking  that 
form. 

The  conclusion  reached  by  the  latest  and  most 
searching  study  is  that  it  is  a  collection  of  wedding 
songs  or  parts  thereof,  which  somebody  endeav- 
oured to  arrange  into  a  kind  of  unity,  but  not  with 
complete  success.  This  theory  was  sustained  by 
the  known  fact  that  in  Syria  and  Palestine  in  the 
olden  time  weddings  were  celebrated  in  a  manner 
that  happily  fits  it,  with  popular  processions  and 
with  songs  and  dances  for  a  week,  when  bride  and 
bridegroom  were  hailed  as  a  royal  pair,  or  as  king 
and  queen.  Where  the  name  of  Solomon  appears 
it  may  have  been  playfully  applied  to  a  happily 
wedded  monarch,  and  Shulamite  may  have  been 
an  epithet  derived  from  memory  of  that  "  fairest 
among  women,"  the  Shunamite  that  was  sought 
out  to  cherish  David  in  his  last  days. 

The  various  studies  of  the  charming  riddle  of 
the  "  Song  of  Songs  "  are  interesting  to  those  in- 
terested in  that  kind  of  puzzle,  but  the  real  attrac- 
tion in  this  glittering  bit  of  Hebrew  literature  is 
its  glowing  descriptions  of  personal  beauty  and  of 
ardent  sentiment  in  a  newly  wedded  pair.  If  it 
seems  to  border  closely  upon  the  sensuous,  it  is 
descriptive  of  a  pure  love  of  lovers  or  of  bride 
and  bridegroom,  with  no  more  than  its  genuine 


LYRICS,  SONGS,  AND  HYMNS     295 

relation  to  the  flesh,  of  which  the  ancients  were  not 
so  chary  as  the  moderns.  A  feature  of  the  Syrian 
wedding  celebration  was  a  sword  dance  with  which 
the  description  of  chapter  seven  may  have  been 
associated.  Apart  from  its  pictorial  merit  this 
little  production  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  the  lighter 
and  brighter  aspect  of  life  in  the  Jewish  days  long 
after  the  exile,  and  shows  that  it  was  not  wholly 
overshadowed  by  the  priestly  law  and  its  observ- 
ances. 

But  the  great  repository  of  Hebrew  lyrics  is 
that  volume  of  poetry,  mainly  religious  or  devo- 
tional, which  has  been  known  as  the  Book  of 
Psalms  ever  since  it  was  first  rendered  into  the 
Greek  language,  when  the  tongue  of  Israel  was 
ceasing  to  speak  in  its  ancient  accents.  The  word 
rendered  tj/a\fw?  in  Greek  meant  a  piece  sung  to 
a  musical  accompaniment,  but  the  Hebrew  title 
for  the  collection  meant  "  Songs  of  Praise."  Just 
when  this  collection  was  completed  and  divided 
into  five  books,  like  the  Torah,  or  law,  cannot  be 
determined,  but  it  is  believed  to  have  been  in  the 
last  half  of  the  Second  Century,  B.  C.  The  divi- 
sion into  books  was  partly  arbitrary,  but  there 
were  several  collections,  made  at  different  times 
and  finally  combined,  to  form  the  psalterium,  or 
psalter,  of  the  temple  and  the  synagogues  in  the 
centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  and  to  become 
the  priceless  heritage  of  the  Christian  Church  in 
after  times. 


296     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

The  five  books  evidently  do  not  correspond  to 
the  original  collections.  The  first  comprises 
Psalms  one  to  forty-one  and  Is  made  up  mostly  of 
what  appears  to  be  the  earliest  collection.  All 
but  the  first  two  pieces,  which  form  a  general  pre- 
lude to  the  entire  volume,  and  the  tenth  and  thirty- 
third,  are  labelled  with  the  name  of  David.  The 
second  book,  which  extends  from  forty-two  to 
seventy-two.  Includes  another  and  probably  later 
collection  attributed  to  David.  This  latter  con- 
sists of  the  series  from  fifty-one  to  seventy-one, 
with  the  exception  of  sIxty-sIx,  sixty-seven  and 
seventy-one,  which  are  anonymous.  Seventy-two 
Is  credited  to  Solomon.  Forty-two  to  forty-nine 
are  Inscribed  as  "  for  the  sons  of  Korah,"  and 
fifty  is  marked  as  "  a  psalm  of  Asaph." 

The  third  book  includes  Psalms  seventy-three 
to  eighty-nine,  and  all  but  the  last  six  are 
called  psalms  of  Asaph,  probably  forming  a 
collection  by  themselves  and  perhaps  originally 
including  number  fifty.  The  last  six  form  a 
kind  of  appendix  to  this  collection.  Three  of 
them,  eighty-four,  eighty-five  and  eighty-seven 
are  "  for  the  sons  of  Korah,"  eighty-six  is  "  a 
prayer  of  David  "  and  the  last  two  are  called 
"  maschils,"  of  Heman  the  Ezrahlte  and  Ethan 
the  Ezrahlte  respectively.  Book  four  ends  with 
Psalm  one  hundred  and  six  and  book  five  covers 
the  rest  of  the  hundred  and  fifty.  There  Is  no 
distinct  division  between  these  two  "  books,"  and 


LYRICS,  SONGS,  AND  HYMNS     297 

the  psalms  are  mostly  anonymous,  though  number 
ninety  is  attributed  to  Moses,  and  several  are 
credited  to  David.  The  two  books  can  hardly  be 
regarded  as  a  separate  collection,  and  they  were 
probably  for  the  most  part  gradual  accretions.  It 
is  generally  noted  that  the  section  from  forty-two 
to  eighty-three  underwent  at  some  time  an  Elohistic 
redaction,  in  which  the  name  Yahweh,  rendered 
in  English  "  the  Lord,"  was  changed  in  most  cases 
to  Elohim,  God.  This  doubtless  constituted  at 
that  time  a  collection  made  up  of  smaller  collec- 
tions of  Korahite,  Davidic  and  Asaphite  psalms. 
There  has  been  much  learned  controversy  over 
these  titles,  but  there  is  no  reason  for  regarding 
them  as  having  any  relation  to  authorship.  The 
psalms  were  collected,  and  to  a  large  extent  writ- 
ten, for  the  temple  service  after  the  exile.  There 
may  be  some  that  were  adapted  from  sporadic 
songs  or  hymns  of  praise  which  appeared  before 
the  exile,  but  there  was  no  form  of  worship  in 
which  such  were  used  at  that  time,  and  there  arc 
few,  if  any,  of  this  kind.  It  is  certain  that  none 
came  down  from  Moses,  and  the  evidence  is  all 
against  any  as  old  as  David  or  Solomon.  Some 
authorities  who  have  given  close  study  to  all  the 
internal  and  external  and  all  historical  and  lin- 
guistic evidence,  will  not  allow  that  any  appeared 
before  the  exile  which  could  be  regarded  as  more 
than  crude  material  for  the  final  product.  The 
use  of  ancient  and  revered  names  upon  produc- 


298     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

tions  that  were  highly  cherished  was  common,  es- 
pecially when  their  origin  was  unknown  and  they 
were  on  some  account  associated  with  the  char- 
acters or  quality  for  which  the  names  stood. 

The  chronicler,  as  we  have  seen,  attributed  the 
organisation  of  the  temple  service,  as  it  was  after 
the  exile,  to  David,  and  it  may  have  been  for  that 
reason  that  some  of  the  earliest  psalms  in  use  were 
labelled  with  his  name.  The  musical  service  was 
said  to  have  been  assigned  by  him  to  the  sons  of 
Asaph  and  of  Heman  and  of  Jeduthun.  This 
would  seem  to  imply  that  in  the  chronicler's  time 
there  were  three  choirs  or  guilds  of  temple  singers 
and  musicians  bearing  these  titles ;  but,  in  the  slight 
references  in  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  only  one  is 
mentioned,  known  as  the  "  sons  of  Asaph,"  who 
were  singers.  The  use  of  the  phrase  "  sons  of  " 
was  common  for  members  of  any  organisation  or 
community  or  class  or  nation  which  had  a  name, 
whether  personal  or  otherwise. 

Asaph  was  one  of  the  old  clan  names  and 
may  or  may  not  have  been  borne  by  a  per- 
son in  the  exile,  but  it  was  evidently  applied 
to  a  company  of  singers  then,  and  In  the 
temple  service  later.  Hence  many  of  the 
psalms  used  by  this  company  bear  the  name 
of  Asaph.  That  Asaph  was  used  as  the  name  of 
a  person  in  David's  time  by  the  writer  of  the 
Chronicles  signifies  nothing  historical.  It  was 
the  same  writer  who  as  compiler  of  the  Book  of 


LYRICS,  SONGS,  AND  HYMNS     299 

Nehemiah  spoke  of  "  the  days  of  David  and 
Asaph  of  old,"  when  there  were  "  chiefs  of  the 
singers,  and  songs  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  to 
God."  The  sons  of  Korah  were  evidently  a  sec- 
ond choir  or  guild  of  temple  singers  when  these 
collections  were  formed,  unknown  in  the  time  of 
Ezra;  but  the  psalms  afford  no  evidence  of  a  third, 
which  might  be  Implied  by  the  chronicler's  refer- 
ence to  David's  assignment  of  duties,  unless  it  be 
in  the  single  psalms  attributed  to  Heman  and 
Ethan.  But  in  Chronicles  the  sons  of  Heman 
appear  to  be  musicians  to  "  lift  up  the  horn." 

These  titles  are  matters  of  little  living  interest, 
as  they  give  no  clue  to  the  authorship  of  psalms, 
the  time  In  which  they  were  written,  or  to  circum- 
stances which  might  explain  their  meaning  or  their 
allusions.  While  most  of  those  In  the  first  book 
are  probably  older  and  most  of  those  In  the  last 
two  books  later  than  the  rest,  no  chronological 
order  Is  observed,  and  stray  pieces,  old  and  new, 
were  apparently  gathered  in  from  time  to  time 
wherever  they  would  fit  or  wherever  It  happened 
to  be  convenient  to  put  them.  The  lack  of  classi- 
fication and  arrangement  has  given  large  oppor- 
tunity for  learned  research  and  close  study  by  many 
learned  men  desirous  of  telling  us  all  about  the 
origin  and  meaning  of  the  psalms,  and  it  would 
take  a  large  volume  to  sum  up  their  various  con- 
clusions and  to  point  out  their  reasons  for  not 
agreeing.     We  will  be  satisfied  with  a  few  very 


300    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

general  conclusions  and  contented  with  the  mean- 
ing the  psalms  have  for  the  modern  man. 

Though  a  few  may  have  been  old  when  they 
were  collected  together  and  some  may  have  been 
expressions  of  personal  experience  and  feeling,  as 
a  whole  they  reflect  the  moods  and  sentiments,  the 
hopes  and  fears,  the  aspirations  and  the  devotion, 
of  the  Jewish  community  when  it  was  under  the 
Persian  power  and  later  under  that  of  Greece  or 
Syria.  Some  of  them  were  written  and  sung  after 
the  revolt  of  Simon  the  priest,  and  under  the  rule 
of  his  descendants  at  Jerusalem,  when  they  were 
lauded  as  if  they  were  offspring  of  the  house  of 
David.  In  fact,  they  were  so  considered  in  some 
figurative  or  metaphorical  sense.  During  most  of 
the  period  In  which  this  anthology  was  produced 
the  Jews  at  Jerusalem  had  little  autonomy  of 
worldly  rule.  They  were  subject  to  alien  author- 
ity which  was  sometimes  oppressive  and  always 
hated.  They  were  beset  with  enemies  at  times 
who  annoyed  and  humiliated  them.  Their  an- 
cient pride  had  been  subdued  but  not  extinguished, 
and  they  keenly  felt  their  position  as  subjects  of 
those  whose  god  was  not  the  Lord.  Many  among 
them   were    faithless   to   their    ancient   traditions. 

Their  '*  sacred  nation ''  was  dead  and  the  hope 
of  earthly  power  seemed  to  be  gone,  but  the  old 
promises  were  still  cherished  and  belief  in  the  des- 
tiny of  Israel's  race  was  invincible.  Their  God 
had  punished  them  for  their  sins,  he  seemed  at 


LYRICS,  SONGS,  AND  HYMNS     301 

times  to  have  rejected  and  abandoned  them,  but 
they  would  cHng  to  him  as  the  rock  of  their  salva- 
tion and  their  redeemer  in  his  own  good  time.  It 
was  not  the  Jewish  community  as  a  whole,  but  the 
community  of  the  pious  and  devout,  many  of  them 
poor,  meek  and  humble,  but  conscious  of  superior- 
ity over  the  worldly  and  the  wicked,  and  proud 
of  their  race  and  their  religion  compared  with 
those  of  the  mighty  nations,  which  found  expres- 
sion In  many  of  these  Intense  lyrics  that  have 
such  a  marvellous  adaptation  to  individual 
moods. 

Fully  to  appreciate  them  we  must  keep  In  mind 
that  they  are  rarely  the  expression  of  the  personal 
moods  and  feelings  of  the  writers,  except  as  they 
were  In  full  sympathy  with  the  community  of  the 
Lord's  "  Saints."  The  ''  I  "  and  "  me,"  so  much 
used,  are  pronouns  of  that  personified  community, 
which  raised  its  united  voice  In  the  temple  or  the 
synagogue,  or  of  the  race  or  people  of  which  this 
was  a  sanctified  part.  When  beset  with  enemies 
and  in  peril,  as  It  was  from  time  to  time  In  those 
centuries  after  the  exile.  Its  voice  was  raised  from 
deep  dejection  In  Imprecations  and  calls  for  venge- 
ance and  In  pleas  for  help.  Sometimes  it  felt  that 
it  had  been  cast  off  and  abandoned,  forsaken  of 
Its  God,  who  had  withdrawn  afar  off  or  hidden 
his  face,  and  It  cried  out  almost  In  despair.  It 
bewailed  the  sins  of  the  past  and  acknowledged 
that  the  punishment  Inflicted  upon  the  nation  had 


302     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

been  deserved,  but  besought  the  Lord  to  forgive 
and  to  save.  It  often  magnified  the  power  and 
glory  of  the  Lord  and  called  upon  all  the  earth 
to  utter  his  praise.  When  victorious  or  prosper- 
ous it  exulted  in  songs  of  triumph  and  praised  the 
Lord  for  his  loving  kindness  and  tender  mercy 
and  his  ever  present  help  in  time  of  need. 

The  experience  through  which  the  people  of 
Israel  had  passed  wrought  a  change  in  the  con- 
ception of  deity.  He  was  no  longer  the  human- 
like being  who  walked  in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  and 
talked  with  Abraham  and  Moses;  he  was  not  the 
mightier  Chemosh  or  Baal  who  fought  the  battles 
of  his  people  and  destroyed  the  hosts  of  other 
gods;  he  was  not  even  the  fierce  and  wrathful  and 
jealous  potentate  of  the  prophets,  and  no  longer 
uttered  threats  and  promises.  He  was  remote, 
unseen  and  unheard.  He  was  still  the  embodi- 
ment of  stern  justice,  but  he  had  pity  upon  his 
people,  now  anxiously  submissive  and  pleading  to 
be  forgiven  and  to  be  sustained.  He  was  right- 
eous altogether,  but  good  and  merciful  to  those 
who  humbly  called  upon  him.  The  voice  is  that 
of  a  people  which  has  been  through  affliction, 
which  has  gone  astray  and  been  punished,  but  is 
repentant  and  subdued,  and  still  hopeful  that  after 
its  purification  it  will  be  exalted  and  made  happy. 
It  still  trusts  in  its  God,  calls  upon  him  in  time 
of  trouble,  rejoices  in  him  in  days  of  triumph, 
pleads  for  his  forgiveness  and  help,  utters  thanks 


LYRICS,  SONGS,  AND  HYMNS     303 

for  every  favour  and  is  deeply  devoted  to  his  wor- 
ship or  striving  to  be  so. 

The  wonderful  thing  about  all  these  varied 
utterances  that  sprang  from  the  devoted  com- 
munity of  which  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  was 
the  centre  and  the  synagogues  were  scattered 
branches,  is  their  adaptation  to  human  moods 
and  needs  and  aspirations  in  the  individual 
man,  which  has  made  of  them  an  anthology  of 
religious  devotion  and  worship  for  all  time.  As 
part  of  Israel's  epic  this  is  a  revelation  of  the 
experience  and  the  character  of  the  people  and 
a  varied  reflection  of  Judaism  in  its  religious 
aspect,  when  political  power  was  gone  forever, 
the  voice  of  prophecy  was  hushed,  the  oracle 
and  the  vision  had  departed,  and  even  the  sacri- 
fices and  oblations  of  the  sanctuary  seem  almost 
forgotten  in  the  chants  of  priests  and  the  singing 
of  choirs.  Save  for  one  long,  artificial  and  mo- 
notonous panegyric,  a  complex  alphabetical  acros- 
tic, there  is  little  reference  to  the  *'  law  "  and  the 
"statutes"  and  the  "testimonies"  of  the  Lord; 
and  the  formal  sacrifices  and  observances  are 
slightingly  referred  to  as  of  little  moment  com- 
pared with  a  contrite  heart,  a  submissive  spirit, 
upright  conduct,  and  devotion  to  purity  and  good- 
ness. 

This  Is  what  gives  the  psalms  their  uni- 
versal and  everlasting  sanction,  as  expressions  of 
the  yearnings  of  the  human  soul.    They  were  prod- 


304    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

ucts  of  the  Hebrew  genius,  which  like  most  that 
preceded  them,  owe  their  peculiar  vitality  to  the 
fact  that  they  were  not  creations  of  individual 
minds  intent  upon  giving  expression  to  themselves, 
but  emanations  from  the  life  and  experience  of 
a  people,  with  an  intense  consciousness  of  a  com- 
mon lot  and  a  common  fate  in  the  midst  of  an 
alien  world. 


XIV 

WISDOM  AND  PHILOSOPHY 

It  was  long  after  the  exile  that  the  Hebrew 
genius,  under  the  influence  of  Persian  and  Greek 
philosophy,  turned  to  the  production  of  what  have 
been  designated  as  ''  wisdom  books."  The  ear- 
liest of  these  in  its  material,  if  not  in  its  final  form, 
was  a  collection  of  discourses  and  sayings  of  the 
wise,  which  was  admitted  later  than  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  era  to  the  third  canon,  or  that 
of  "  sacred  writings,"  as  distinguished  from  "  the 
Law  "  and  *'  the  Prophets."  It  is  known  to  us 
as  the  Book  of  Proverbs.  Just  how  early  it  was 
finally  made  up  is  one  of  the  many  questions  upon 
which  the  most  learned  differ,  but  probably  in  the 
later  part  of  what  is  called  the  Greek  period,  and 
before  the  Insurrection  led  by  the  "  Maccabees." 
It  consists  of  different  components  finally  thrown 
together,  and  labeled  In  the  first  versions  from  the 
original  tongue  "  The  proverbs  of  Solomon,  son 
of  David,  King  of  Israel."  The  oldest  of  the 
subsidiary  collections  of  which  it  is  composed,  ex- 
tending from  Chapter  ten  of  the  book  as  we  have 
It  to  Chapter  twenty-two,  verse  sixteen,  is  headed 
"  The  proverbs  of  Solomon."     This  seems  to  be 

305 


3o6    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

divided  at  Chapter  sixteen,  verse  three,  into  two 
sections  of  somewhat  different  character,  which 
were  doubtless  separate  in  their  earliest  form. 
Again,  the  five  chapters  from  twenty-five  to  twen- 
ty-nine are  introduced  with  the  statement:  "  These 
are  also  the  proverbs  of  Solomon,  which  the  men 
of  Hezekiah,  King  of  Judah  copied  out." 

All  of  these  are  detached  sayings  in  rhythmical 
couplets,  seldom  connected  or  arranged  with  ref- 
erence to  the  sequence  of  Ideas.  They  are  max- 
ims, aphorisms  and  gnomic  sayings,  which  may 
have  been  gathered  from  various  sources.  Be- 
tweeifl  these  two  main  sections,  there  are  two 
groups  of  quatrains,  or  strophes,  from  xxil,  17 
to  XXIV,  22,  and  xxiv,  23  to  34.  The  first 
nine  chapters  of  the  book  are  undoubtedly  later, 
but,  being  in  the  form  of  didactic  discourses,  were 
used  as  an  introduction,  and  the  last  two  chapters 
constitute  an  appendix  of  miscellaneous  material. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  learned  discussion  on 
the  subject  there  is  no  reason  for  taking  the  use 
of  the  name  of  Solomon,  as  applied  either  to  sub- 
ordinate sections  or  to  the  whole  collection,  as  any 
evidence  of  the  authorship  of  any  part  of  the  say- 
ings. That  king  became  in  a  sense  legendary, 
as  the  model  of  all  wisdom,  and  It  was  said,  long 
after  his  day,  that  he  uttered  many  wise  sayings, 
but  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  any  of  these 
were  preserved  until  this  collection  was  made  up. 
The  use  of  his  name  was  in  accordance  with  a 


WISDOM  AND  PHILOSOPHY      307 

common  practice  at  a  time  when  writings,  except 
the  oracles  of  prophets,  were  rarely  associated  with 
the  names  of  the  authors.  The  names  used  did 
not  indicate  authorship  but  character.  Neither  is 
there  any  reason  to  suppose  that  any  of  these  were 
"  copied  out  "  by  men  of  Hezekiah,  notwithstand- 
ing the  statement.  His  reign  was  in  the -troublous 
time  of  Assyrian  Invasion  and  was  closely  associ- 
ated with  the  activity  of  the  prophet  Isaiah;  but 
there  is  nothing  In  the  account  of  It  to  Indicate 
that  he  had  men  about  him  engaged  In  the  peace- 
ful pursuit  of  collecting  or  uttering  proverbs.  But 
the  strongest  argument  for  the  late  authorship  of 
most,  if  not  all,  of  these  sayings  is  their  character, 
which  is  not  in  keeping  with  the  conceptions  or 
modes  of  thought  of  the  pre-exilic  time. 

There  was  one  fundamental  conception,  upon 
which  the  prophets  laid  constant  stress,  If  they  did 
not  originate  It,  and  It  was  never  lost.  "  The 
Lord  "  of  Israel  was  a  God  of  righteousness  and 
justice,  the  source  of  all  wisdom  and  power.  Fear 
of  him  and  obedience  to  his  mandates,  as  uttered 
by  those  who  truly  spoke  In  his  name,  was  the  only 
safety.  All  wrong-doing  was  disobedience  and 
folly  and  would  bring  Inevitable  penalties.  The 
application  of  this  conception  to  human  life  and 
conduct  took  a  different  form  after  the  experience 
of  the  nation's  destruction,  the  captivity  of  Its  peo- 
ple, and  their  subjection  to  foreign  powers.  This 
appears  strikingly  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs. 


308    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

The  deity  no  longer  seems  to  be  "  the  Lord," 
Yahweh,  the  god  of  Israel,  and  there  is  no  allusion 
to  the  existence  of  other  gods.  He  Is  not  the  pas- 
sionate potentate  of  the  heavens  as  In  the  former 
time,  jealous  of  the  worship  of  other  deities,  watch- 
ful of  his  own  peculiar  people,  given  to  wrath  at 
their  offences,  yet  loving  them  and  repenting  of  his 
anger  when  they  turned  to  him  In  humble  submis- 
sion; punishing  them  with  famine,  pestilence  and 
war,  and  yet  hating  their  enemies  and  oppressors, 
threatening  their  destruction  and  promising  glory 
and  greatness  to  a  purified  remnant  of  his  own  peo- 
ple. That  stage  of  development  had  passed  with 
the  destruction  of  the  nation  and  the  humiliation 
of  the  people,  and  the  God  of  the  "  wise  men  " 
was  remote,  unheard  and  unseen,  no  longer  in  In- 
timate association  with  prophets  and  priests,  seers 
and  dreamers.  He  is  the  divine  power  of  the 
universe,  the  source  of  all  good  and  the  embodi- 
ment of  the  moral  law.  His  relation  is  not  that 
of  a  ruler  of  the  nation  or  the  father  of  a  people, 
and  he  is  not  given  to  human  impulses  and  emo- 
tions. He  Is  a  serene  deity,  whose  laws  are  Inex- 
orable and  work  out  their  own  penalties  on  the 
earth,  and  his  relation  is  to  the  individual  man. 

There  Is  reason  to  believe,  though  there  is  no 
clear  evidence,  that  after  the  exile  there  developed 
schools  of  wise  teachers,  as  there  had  been  schools 
of  prophets  In  the  olden  time  In  which  the  disciples 
were  called  ''  sons  of  prophets."     These  wise  men 


WISDOM  AND  PHILOSOPHY      309 

also  addressed  their  pupils  as  "  sons."  They  ap- 
pear to  have  led  lives  of  study  and  meditation, 
and  while  they  drew  their  fundamental  religious 
conception  from  the  old  prophets,  much  of  their 
inspiration  came  from  the  philosophy  of  the  con- 
querors of  Israel.  There  is  little  reference  to  the 
law  or  to  sacrifices  and  none  to  prayer  and  praise. 
Nothing  Is  said  of  loving  God,  and  of  his  love  it 
Is  only  said  that  "  whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  re- 
proveth,  even  as  a  father  the  son  in  whom  he 
delighteth."  It  is  wisdom  that  is  said  to  love 
those  who  love  her.  Virtually  no  distinction  is 
made  between  righteousness,  or  right-doing,  and 
wisdom,  or  between  wickedness  and  folly.  Fear 
of  the  Lord  Is  said  to  be  the  essence  of  wisdom, 
but  fear  of  the  Lord  is  synonymous  with  obedience 
to  the  moral  law  of  which  he  is  the  personification. 
In  this  there  is  a  profound  philosophy  that  can 
never  grow  old.  It  Is  everlastingly  true  that  the 
highest  wisdom  lies  in  doing  right.  The  best  man 
Is  the  wisest  and  happiest,  and  wrong-doing, 
whether  as  vice  and  crime  or  as  falsehood  and 
dishonesty,  is  foolish  and  injurious  to  the  perpe- 
trator. The  basic  philosophy  of  the  proverbs  is 
sound,  but  it  pervaded  other  literature  of  its  time 
besides  that  of  Judaism.  Here  and  there  is  a 
glimpse  of  a  higher  ethical  principle  than  that  of 
the  law.  "  To  do  justice  and  judgment  is  more 
acceptable  to  the  Lord  than  sacrifice."  "  Rejoice 
not  when  thine  enemy  falleth  and  let  not  thine 


3IO    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

heart   be    glad   when    he    stumbleth."     "  If    thy 
enemy  be  hungry  give  him  water  to  drink." 

The  introductory  nine  chapters  of  Proverbs, 
which  are  later  in  origin,  are  different  in 
form  from  the  collections  that  follow.  Whether 
the  product  of  one  writer  or  not,  they  form  a  series 
of  connected  discourses,  and  the  rhythmical  forms 
are  varied.  This  section  is  in  parts  poetical  as 
well  as  rhythmical,  especially  in  those  in  which 
wisdom  is  personified.  The  elaborate  personifica- 
tion in  chapter  eight,  where  wisdom  speaks  in  the 
first  person  and  makes  itself  the  first  offspring  of 
the  Lord  and  his  companion  in  his  creative  work, 
contains  the  germ  of  the  logos  doctrine  of  Philo, 
wherein  was  the  seed  of  the  "  word  "  dogma  of 
the  fourth  gospel.  The  burden  of  these  chapters 
is  the  warning  of  the  young  against  the  enticements 
of  the  wicked  and  especially  those  of  the  "  strange 
woman,"  whose  feet  go  down  to  death  and  "  her 
steps  take  hold  on  sheol."  This  term  for  the  un- 
derworld of  Hebrew  mythology,  where  the  dead 
remained  in  a  state  of  torpor,  forever  at  rest,  is  a 
common  synonym  for  death  or  the  grave.  Mingled 
with  the  magnifying  of  wisdom  and  knowledge, 
the  scorn  of  wickedness  and  folly  and  warn- 
ings against  temptation,  are  many  sage  maxims 
and  aphorisms  touching  the  conduct  of  life.  While 
the  versification  is  more  varied  than  in  other  parts 
of  the  book  there  is  much  of  the  familiar  parallel- 
ism of  idea. 


WISDOM  AND  PHILOSOPHY      311 

The  long  section  which  follows  these  discourses 
is  made  up  of  couplets  occasionally  extended  to 
triplets,  in  which  antithetical  parallelism  is  the 
prevalent  form,  as  "  A  wise  son  maketh  a  glad 
father.  But  a  foolish  son  is  the  heaviness  of  his 
mother;"  "Treasures  of  wickedness  profit  noth- 
ing. But  righteousness  delivereth  from  death,"  and 
so  on.  In  the  second  part  of  this  section,  begin- 
ning with  Chapter  xvi,  3,  there  is  a  predominance 
of  couplets  in  which  the  two  members  are  synony- 
mous, or  form  a  continuous  expression,  as: 

"  By  mercy  and  truth  iniquity  is  purged, 
And  by  fear  of  the  Lord  men  depart  from  evil." 

"  Better  is  a  little  with  righteousness 
Than  great  revenues  with  injustice." 

While  in  this  collection  there  is  still  much  con- 
trasting of  wisdom  and  folly  and  of  righteousness 
and  wickedness,  there  is  also  much  of  mere  worldly 
good  sense  and  prudent  counsel.  Still  more  does 
this  quality  appear  in  the  collection  of  apothegms 
which  the  men  of  Hezekiah  are  said  to  have 
"  copied  out." 

Between  these  collections,  introduced  with  an 
aumonition  to  listen  to  the  words  of  the  wise  and 
apply  the  heart  to  acquiring  knowledge,  are  two 
groups  of  epigrams  and  wise  sayings  separated  by 
the  line:  "These  also  are  sayings  of  the  wise" 
or  "  these  things  also  belong  to  the  wise,"  which 
may  apply  to  what  goes  before  or  what  follows, 


312     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

as  In  the  original  there  was  no  punctuation,  and 
divisions  of  manuscript  were  uncertain.  These 
are  partly  In  quatrains  and  strophes  of  Irregular 
length,  and,  while  different  In  manner  from  the 
other  collection,  have  much  the  same  tone  of  high 
morality  and  worldly  wisdom.  It  can  hardly  be 
said  that  the  world  has  advanced  In  that  respect 
In  all  these  centuries  beyond  the  standard  of  the 
wise  men  of  Judea,  although  religious  conceptions 
have  reached  a  greater  height,  the  field  of  knowl- 
edge has  vastly  widened,  the  human  understanding 
has  more  to  work  upon  and  to  support  It,  and 
ethical  motives  are  more  exalted  among  the  wisest 
and  best.  But  the  marvel  of  this  book,  doubtless 
the  work  of  many  hands  extending  over  a  consid- 
erable period,  is  the  enduring  validity  of  Its  wis- 
dom and  Its  constant  appeal  to  the  moral  sense  and 
the  common  sense  of  humanity.  The  writers  used 
the  knowledge,  the  understanding  and  the  reason 
of  their  time  to  the  utmost,  and  without  hope  of 
reward  or  fear  of  retribution  In  another  life, 
reached  the  sound  conclusion  that  In  this  life, 
"  here  on  this  bank  and  shoal  of  time,"  righteous- 
ness and  truth,  justice  and  mercy,  are  the  part  of 
wisdom  and  safety. 

The  two  supplementary  chapters  of  the  book 
have  a  merit  of  their  own,  but  no  literary  relation 
to  the  rest.  Who  Agur  was,  whether  the  name 
was  meant  for  a  real  person  or  was  a  proper  name 
at  all,  It  Is  hardly  worth  while  to  consider.     It 


WISDOM  AND  PHILOSOPHY      313 

Is  even  uncertain  how  much  of  what  follows  the 
enigmatical  reference  to  the  words  of  "  Agur  the 
Son  of  Jakeh,"  addressed  unto  Ithlel  and  Ucal, 
was  meant  to  be  attributed  to  that  person,  whether 
real  or  Imaginary.  It  makes  no  difference  with 
the  merit  of  what  Is  said,  some  of  which  is  wise 
and  some  only  curious.  Equally  doubtful  is  the 
personality  of  King  Lemuel  and  his  mother,  and 
equally  unimportant.  Many  will  venture  to  dis- 
agree with  "  the  words  "  regarding  the  use  of 
strong  drink.  But  there  is  no  connection  between 
the  stray  words  of  Agur  and  Lemuel  and  the 
alphabetical  poem  with  which  the  book  closes  in 
praise  of  the  virtuous  woman.  That  is  one  of  the 
gems  of  ancient  literature  gathered  up  in  this  great 
repository  of  Israel's  manifold  genius. 

Another  treasure  that  might  have  been  lost  to 
mankind  but  for  the  old  Jewish  pride  that  imposed 
the  seal  of  sanctity  upon  the  books  which  It  held 
precious  and  Imposed  its  acceptance  upon  many 
generations,  Is  that  known  as  "  Eccleslastes."  It 
was  late  In  being  admitted  to  the  canon  by  which 
the  seal  of  sanctity  was  affixed  and  probably  owes 
its  escape  from  the  "  apocrypha  "  to  the  assump- 
tion that  it  was  a  work  of  Solomon  and  to  the 
appended  words  which  summed  up  the  "  conclu- 
sion of  the  whole  matter."  The  title,  "  The 
words  of  Koheleth,  the  son  of  David,  King  in 
Jerusalem,"  was  not  prefixed  by  the  author.  The 
exact  meaning  of   Koheleth,   rendered   "  Ecclesi- 


314     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

astes  "  in  the  Greek  and  the  "  preacher  "  in  Eng- 
lish, is  a  little  dubious,  but  the  writer  used  it  to 
represent  the  speaker  in  the  monologue  which  fol- 
lows. 

He  introduces  his  discourse  with  a  gloomy 
prologue  upon  the  vanity  and  emptiness  of  all 
things  in  this  world,  because  life  is  one  monotonous 
round  and  there  is  nothing  new  to  be  looked  for 
and  no  remembrance  of  things  from  one  genera- 
tion to  another.  Then  for  the  purpose  of  illus- 
tration he  assumes  the  greatest  character  he  can 
conceive  of,  "  King  over  Israel  in  Jerusalem,"  in 
order  to  say  that  all  that  he  was  and  all  that  he 
achieved,  his  test  of  wisdom  and  wealth  and  of 
pleasure  and  enjoyment,  only  led  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  all  is  vanity  and  striving  after  the  wind, 
and  that  nothing  is  better  for  man  than  that  he 
should  eat  and  drink  and  make  his  soul  enjoy  good 
in  his  labour.  He  does  not  use  the  name  of  Sol- 
omon or  assume  to  be  the  son  of  David,  though 
doubtless  he  had  that  exemplar  in  mind.  When 
the  character  had  served  his  purpose  he  dropped 
the  mask. 

Ecclesiastes  was  one  of  the  latest  productions 
added  to  their  sacred  canon  by  the  Jews.  Some 
have  regarded  it  as  the  latest  to  be  produced,  but 
it  was  doubtless  earlier  than  the  Book  of  Daniel. 
Like  the  latest  of  the  proverbs  It  was  written  when 
Israel's  hope  of  ever  again  being  an  independent 
nation  was  at  the  lowest  and  its  submission  to  a 


WISDOM  AND  PHILOSOPHY      315 

foreign  power  was  most  complete.  That  power 
was  probably  the  Syrian  princes  who  had  come  in 
after  the  conquests  of  Alexander,  and  when  the 
process  of  Hellenisation  had  pervaded  Palestine. 
"  Koheleth  "  carried  farther  than  any  of  the  more 
cheerful  wise  men  who  had  a  hand  in  the  contents 
of  the  Book  of  Proverbs  the  doctrine  that  no  mat- 
ter what  you  may  think  of  this  life  and  the  destiny 
of  man,  there  is  nothing  better  for  you  than  wis- 
dom and  understanding,  and  what  they  dictate  is 
righteous  conduct  in  ''  fear  of  the  Lord,"  even 
though  the  righteous  may  sometimes  suffer  and  the 
wicked  may  flourish,  while  the  same  fate  awaits 
them  both,  w^hich  is  the  fate  of  the  beasts  that 
perish.  Of  that  he  has  no  doubt  and  yet  he  would 
make  the  best  of  life  while  it  lasts.  Notwith- 
standing "  the  travail  which  God  hath  given  to 
the  sons  of  men  to  be  exercised  therewith,"  "  I 
know  that  there  is  nothing  better  for  them  than 
to  rejoice  and  to  get  good  so  long  as  they  live; 
and  also  that  every  man  should  eat,  and  drink 
and  enjoy  good  in  all  his  labour;  it  Is  the  gift  of 
God." 

The  work  is  not  altogether  coherent  or  entirely 
consistent,  which  may  be  in  part  due  to  imperfec- 
tions in  transcribing  and  to  emendations  and  inter- 
polations by  copyists.  Most  of  these  ancient  texts 
are  corrupt  beyond  the  power  of  man  to  restore 
to  their  pristine  form.  But  the  writer  had  vary- 
ing moods  and  he  Introduced  maxims  and  wise 


3i6     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

sayings  some  of  which  may  not  have  been  his  own. 
Still,  his  doctrine  is  not  obscure.  He  regarded 
everything  in  this  world,  good  and  bad,  as  or- 
dained of  God  and  unchangeable  by  man.  It  was 
inscrutable  and  it  was  vain  to  contend  against  it. 
It  could  not  be  reformed  and  it  did  not  tend  to 
cure  itself.  There  were  oppressions  under  the 
sun  and  its  victims  had  no  comforter.  It  were 
better  for  them  to  be  dead  than  living  and  best 
of  all  never  to  have  lived,  and  yet  he  says  else- 
where that  where  there  is  life  there  is  hope  and  a 
living  dog  is  better  than  a  dead  lion. 

He  has  seen  one  born  poor  come  out  of  prison 
to  be  a  king  and  be  acclaimed  by  all,  but  those 
who  come  after  will  not  rejoice  in  him,  and  that 
also  is  vanity.  One  man  heaps  up  riches  and  may 
rejoice  in  the  fruits  of  his  labour.  It  is  the  gift 
of  God.  Another  may  have  riches  and  honour 
and  be  unable  to  enjoy  them,  and  an  untimely 
birth  is  better  than  he.  A  wise  man  seems  to  have 
no  advantage  over  a  fool.  A  righteous  man  per- 
ishes in  his  righteousness  and  a  wicked  man  pro- 
longeth  his  life  in  evil  doing;  and  it  seems  better 
not  to  be  righteous  overmuch  or  to  be  overwise. 
All  the  striving  is  not  worth  while.  It  comes  to 
nothing.  There  is  one  event  to  all  and  there  is  no 
help  for  it.  Hence,  again,  eat  thy  bread  with  joy 
and  drink  thy  wine  with  a  merry  heart,  and  live 
joyfully  with  the  wife  whom  thou  lovest.  Do 
what  thy  hand  finds  to  do  with  thy  might,  though 


WISDOM  AND  PHILOSOPHY      317 

the  race  Is  not  to  the  swift  nor  the  battle  to  the 
strong.  The  wise  get  no  reward.  A  poor  wise 
man  may  save  a  besieged  city  and  be  immediately 
forgotten.  It  is  all  a  matter  of  inexorable  fate  or 
the  will  of  God  which  cannot  be  fathomed. 

And  yet  through  these  gloomy  and  vacillating 
musings  runs  a  philosophy  of  cheerful  acceptance 
of  what  is  ordained  because  it  Is  of  God.  There 
Is  the  refrain  that,  after  all,  wisdom  is  better  than 
folly  and  righteousness  is  more  to  be  desired  than 
wickedness.  There  Is  no  memory  of  the  dead,  no 
reward  or  retribution  beyond  the  grave,  no  dis- 
criminating justice  in  this  life,  and  yet  "  surely  I 
know  that  it  shall  be  well  with  them  that  fear 
God,"  and  "  It  shall  not  be  well  with  the  wicked." 
With  the  tinge  of  melancholy  meditation,  lighted 
with  an  occasional  gleam  of  cheerful  resignation, 
it  Is  the  philosophy  of  the  proverbs,  that  In  this 
life  w^Ith  all  Its  vicissitudes  and  iniquities,  right- 
eousness and  obedience  to  the  moral  law  is  wis- 
dom, which  Is  the  most  precious  possession. 
Wrongdoing  Is  folly  and  brings  its  ow^n  reward. 
That  was  the  doctrine  of  Hebrew  faith,  whether 
for  the  nation  or  the  Individual,  the  product  of 
invincible  belief  In  a  just  God,  Itself  the  fruit  of 
a  moral  Insight  that  has  never  been  excelled. 

The  poetical  picture  of  old  age  with  which  the 
original  book  closes  is  a  contrast  to  impress  the 
preceding  advice  to  youth  to  enjoy  the  blessings 
of  life  while  they  last,  and  learned  authorities  re- 


3i8     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

gard  "  remember  thy  Creator  "  as  the  pious  Inter- 
polation of  an  editor,  who  after  the  final  "  vanity 
of  vanities,  all  Is  vanity,"  also  attributed  to  Ko- 
heleth,  or  the  preacher,  in  the  third  person,  many 
proverbs  and  the  conclusion  that  the  whole  duty 
of  man  Is  to  fear  God  and  keep  his  command- 
ments. It  is  such  Interjections  and  additions  that 
turned  the  sceptical  philosopher  Into  a  sacred 
writer  after  he  had  gone. 


XV 

THE    BOOK    OF    JOB 

The  poetical  genius  of  the  ancient  Hebrews 
reached  Its  loftiest  expression  after  the  exile  In 
the  Book  of  Job,  which  Is  not  properly  one  of 
the  *'  wisdom  books,"  though  commonly  classed 
as  such.  It  Is  a  unique  production  and  deserves 
to  stand  alone,  but  It  Is  not  without  a  close  relation 
to  the  rest  of  the  great  epic,  which  pictures  the 
moral  and  religious  development  of  the  people  of 
Israel.  Like  so  much  else  within  the  broad  lines 
of  that  grand  production.  It  Is  a  composite  work, 
and  no  name  of  those  who  had  a  hand  In  making 
it  was  preserved  In  memory  to  be  transmitted  to 
later  gene^^atlons,  so  careless  was  the  Hebrew 
genius  of  individual  authorship,  so  careful  of  the 
substance  which  It  held  sacred. 

It  has  been  difficult  even  for  the  most  learned 
of  modern  scholars  who  treat  this  literature  as  a 
production  of  human  minds,  like  that  of  other  an- 
cient peoples,  to  emancipate  themselves  wholly 
from  this  prepossession  of  peculiar  sanctity  and 
treat  It  with  entire  freedom.  They  are  apt  to  re- 
gard the  Book  of  Job,  if  entirely  human,  as  the 
greatest  of  all  productions  of  the  human  mind, 

319^ 


320    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

as  virtually  faultless;  but  this  Is  an  extravagant 
claim.  It  contains  subtle  delineations  and  some 
powerful  descriptions,  but  it  does  not  reach  the 
profound  depths  of  philosophy  touching  human 
life  that  were  sounded  in  Greek  tragedy  of  nearly 
or  quite  the  same  period,  and  does  not  excel  in 
power  of  description,  splendour  of  imagery  or  force 
of  expression,  the  greatest  passages  of  Greek 
poetry.  Its  chief  value  lies  in  its  reflection  of  a 
state  of  mind  in  the  Jewish  world  when  it  was 
passing  through  a  transition  from  ancient  concep- 
tions to  a  broader  view,  under  the  influence  of 
thought  derived  from  Persian  and  Greek  sources. 
It  has  been  maintained  by  some  that  it  was  not 
originally  a  Hebrew  production,  but  in  the  form 
which  it  finally  took  it  was  distinctly  Israelite  and 
deeply  imbued  with  Jewish  thought  akin  to  that 
of  the  Proverbs  and  of  Ecclesiastes,  in  revolt 
against  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  prophets 
and  the  priests. 

What  may  be  called  the  fundamental  doctrine 
of  ancient  Judaism,  derived  from  a  conception  of 
deity  that  underwent  a  progressive  development 
with  the  growth  and  the  experience  of  Israel,  was 
that  righteous  conduct,  obedience  to  the  com- 
mands of  the  God  Yahweh  through  his  chosen 
and  inspired  spokesmen,  was  rewarded  with  suc- 
cess and  prosperity  on  the  earth,  and  that  diso- 
bedience was  punished  with  calamity  and  suffering. 
In  the  days  of  Israel's  historic  struggles  this  was 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  321 

applied  to  the  nation  and  its  rulers,  and  to  the 
people  as  a  whole,  rather  than  to  the  individual. 
The  prophets  taught  that  if  the  kingdom  was  ruled 
in  righteousness  and  its  subjects  were  loyally  de- 
voted to  the  worship  of  their  God  and  obedient 
to  his  law,  he  would  protect  them  from  their  ene- 
mies, fight  their  battles  and  destroy  those  who 
assailed  them;  but  if  they  failed  in  this  kind  of 
loyalty  he  would  punish  them  with  defeat,  and 
even  allow  their  powerful  enemies  to  destroy  all 
but  a  purified  remnant,  which  he  would  restore 
and  establish  in  accordance  with  his  bargain  with 
their  great  progenitor,  his  friend  on  the  earth, 
Abraham. 

Those  who  wrought  the  annals  of  the  past  from 
ancient  songs  and  legends  and  from  drifting  rec- 
ords of  tradition,  shaped  their  account  of  events 
and  facts  to  conform  to  this  doctrine.  They 
found  that  every  period  of  prosperity  was  due  to 
the  favour  of  Israel's  God  on  account  of  the  vir- 
tue of  its  rulers  and  the  fidelity  of  the  people,  and 
every  calamity  was  caused  by  neglect  of  his  worship 
and  failure  to  observe  his  commands.  When  the 
two  kingdoms  one  after  the  other  were  menaced 
by  the  great  powers  of  the  East,  the  pleadings  of 
the  prophets  were  against  any  dependence  upon 
arms  or  alliance  with  other  nations,  great  or  small, 
and  for  absolute  reliance  upon  Yahweh's  might 
and  Yahweh's  care.  When  destruction  came  and 
the  people  were  scattered  or  carried  into  captivity, 


322     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

It  was  devoutly  believed  that  this  was  a  fulfilment 
of  warnings  that  had  been  unheeded,  and  the  only 
hope  was  In  repentance  and  humble  submission. 
Then  the  Lord's  mercy  would  be  awakened,  his 
love  would  be  renewed  and  he  would  restore  his 
people  and  build  up  his  kingdom  under  an  Ideal 
ruler  of  his  own  choosing  from  the  revered  "  house 
of  David,"  even  though  David's  family  may  seem 
to  have  disappeared,  root  and  branch. 

As  promise  after  promise  failed  of  fulfilment 
and  the  nation  was  In  hopeless  subjection  to  for- 
eign rulers,  first  under  the  Persian  power  and  then 
that  of  Greece,  the  ancient  doctrine  took  a  new 
form.  There  seemed  to  be  no  hope  for  the  na- 
tion, and  the  Ideal  kingdom  was  a  dream  of  the 
indefinite  future,  but  the  God  of  Israel  was  right- 
eous altogether  and  Incapable  of  anything  but  jus- 
tice. His  worshippers  must  now  be  considered  as 
Individuals,  and  as  such  they  were  under  his  care, 
as  the  nation  had  been.  If  they  did  right  they 
would  prosper  and  be  rewarded  with  health,  long 
life  and  happy  families.  If  they  did  wrong,  they 
would  be  punished  with  sickness,  destitution  and 
suffering.  That  was  why  wisdom  was  synonymous 
with  righteousness  and  folly  with  wickedness. 
History  seemed  to  have  failed  to  sustain  this  doc- 
trine In  the  experience  of  the  nation,  but  that  may 
have  been  because  the  nation  failed  to  live  up  to 
It.  But  it  seemed  to  be  belled  by  daily  experi- 
ence and  observation  as  applied  to  Individuals,  and 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  323 

scepticism  arose  as  to  Its  validity.  There  was  a 
struggle  with  doubts  of  the  justice  of  God;  and 
not  all  could  reconcile  themselves  with  the  sad 
philosophy  of  cheerful  acquiescence  proclaimed  by 
him  who  spoke  as  "  Koheleth."  In  the  Book  of 
Job  the  mental  struggle  with  this  problem  of  the 
suffering  of  the  righteous  and  the  justice  of  God 
is  vividly  set  forth,  but  the  problem  is  left  un- 
solved. 

We  have  said  the  book  is  a  composite  produc- 
tion. We  shall  not  weary  the  reader  with  any 
reference  to  the  vast  volume  of  controversy  over 
its  analysis,  but  accept  what  seem  to  be  the  most 
valid  conclusions,  and  only  seek  to  see  clearly  just 
what  the  work  Is  in  the  light  of  what  has  been 
learned  of  its  origin  and  Its  bearings.  It  is  the 
substance  that  interests  us.  The  "  story  "  is  con- 
tained in  the  brief  prologue  and  epilogue  in  prose, 
and  this  is  believed  to  be  older  than  the  colloquies 
in  verse  between  Job  and  his  friends  and  the  final 
speeches  attributed  to  Yahweh,  the  Lord,  the 
original  material  in  the  body  of  the  work  having 
been  displaced  by  later  writers  without  any 
attempt  to  adapt  the  framework  of  story  to  the 
change  In  Its  content. 

The  original  Is  believed  to  have  been  written 
early  In  the  Persian  period.  The  conception  of 
Satan,  as  the  "  adversary  "  and  as  a  kind  of  agent 
of  the  Almighty,  could  not  have  been  earlier. 
The  only  other  appearance  of  the  character  in 


324    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

this  literature  Is  In  the  prophecy  of  Zecharlah, 
though  the  Chronicler  used  it  as  the  instigator  of 
the  offence  of  David  which  was  supposed  to  have 
brought  a  pestilence  upon  his  kingdom.  The 
mythical  quality  of  the  prologue  In  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  "  Sons  of  God,"  or  minor  deities,  is 
not  wholly  inconsistent  with  the  more  ancient  the- 
ology of  the  Hebrews,  and  It  may  have  been  bor- 
rowed from  It  for  the  occasion,  to  give  an  antique 
aspect  to  the  story.  The  epilogue  has  a  similar 
mythical  quality  in  making  "  the  Lord  "  directly 
address  Ellphaz  the  Temanlte  in  anger  and  charge 
him  and  his  two  friends  with  not  speaking  of  him 
'^  the  thing  that  is  right,"  as  his  servant  Job  had 
done.  This  reference  to  what  had  been  spoken 
of  him  Is  quite  Inconsistent  with  the  actual  speeches 
that  were  Interposed  in  their  final  form  between 
the  prologue  and  the  epilogue. 

The  original  story  Is  believed  by  some  learned 
critics  to  have  made  the  suffering  Job  a  personifi- 
cation or  type  of  the  people  of  Israel,  as  In  the 
case  of  the  suffering  servant  in  the  fifty-second 
and  fifty-third  chapters  of  the  Book  of  Isaiah,  and 
to  have  regarded  the  restoration  of  his  prosperity 
and  high  estate  of  honour  as  symbolical  of  a  ful- 
filment of  the  promise  of  final  recompense  for  the 
nation's  past  sufferings.  This  also  does  not  ap- 
pear to  be  consistent  with  the  purport  of  the 
poetical  controversies  as  they  stand.  That  some 
such  analogy  may  have  been  In  the  mind  of  the 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  325 

poet  of  the  earlier  colloquies  is  apparent  in  some 
of  Job's  complaints  of  his  own  sufferings,  as  in 
chapters  nine  and  sixteen,  where  they  are  almost 
as  impersonal  as  in  the  case  of  the  ''  suffering 
servant."  The  contention  that  the  story  may  have 
had  a  legendary  basis  does  not  seem  reasonable, 
in  view  of  the  utter  unreality  of  the  circumstances 
described.  The  name  Job  appears  for  some  rea- 
son to  be  among  those  revered  in  the  past,  as  it 
is  used  in  Ezekiel,  with  Noah  and  Daniel,  as  rep- 
resentative of  a  type  of  the  righteous,  but  that  does 
not  necessarily  imply  a  real  person  in  history. 

The  problem  to  which  the  poetry  of  this  book 
is  devoted  is  to  be  traced  in  the  speeches  of  Job 
and  of  the  three  friends,  who  are  said  in  the  intro- 
ductory story  to  have  come  by  appointment  be- 
tween themselves  from  different  quarters  "  to 
mourn  with  him  and  to  comfort  him."  There 
does  not  appear  in  their  utterances  In  their  pres- 
ent form  much  mourning  in  his  behalf  or  much 
comforting.  There  is  far  more  of  reproach. 
Almost  invariably  the  speeches,  which  begin  in  a 
personal  way,  soon  lapse  into  the  speaker's  general 
view  of  the  experience  of  the  righteous  or  the 
wicked,  or  of  the  supernal  wisdom  and  justice  of 
God,  and  the  individual  case  Is  lost  sight  of. 

The  first  speech  put  in  the  mouth  of  the  char- 
acter that  Is  set  up  as  a  model  of  the  righteous 
man  In  extreme  and  undeserved  affliction,  is  a  pro- 
longed- and  reiterated  curse  upon  the  day  In  which 


326    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

he  was  born  and  a  wish  that  he  had  perished 
at  birth  and  been  left  in  the  underworld  of  the 
dead,  where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling  and 
the  weary  are  at  rest.  Why  should  he  have  to 
live  unwillingly  in  a  world  of  misery?  The  first 
speech  of  Eliphaz  is  in  a  tone  of  commiseration 
and  does  not  suggest  that  Job  is  suffering  for  sin, 
but  that  his  fidelity  is  under  trial,  and  he  is  re- 
minded that  the  righteous  are  never  cut  off.  The 
question  had  come  to  him  in  visions  of  the  night, 
"  Shall  mortal  man  be  more  just  than  God?  '^ 
He  sets  forth  the  penalties  that  befall  the  wicked 
and  the  foolish,  and  declares  that  the  righteous 
man  who  is  chastened  will  be  delivered  from  all 
perils  and  come  to  his  grave  in  peace  and  in  ripe 
old  age,  leaving  his  offspring  in  a  flourishing 
state. 

This  no  doubt  was  meant  to  be  comforting,  but 
Job  finds  nothing  in  it  to  assuage  his  grief,  so 
overwhelming  and  little  appreciated  is  his  calam- 
itous condition.  Upon  this  he  dwells  with  every 
variation  of  despairing  utterance,  seems  to  upbraid 
his  maker  for  bringing  him  into  the  world  to  tor- 
ment him,  and  pleads  that  he  take  away  his  life 
and  leave  him  to  sleep  in  the  dust.  He  acknowl- 
edges the  greatness  of  God  and  the  insignificance 
of  man,  and  gives  that  as  a  reason  why  it  is 
not  worth  while  for  the  creator  to  subject  his 
creature  to  such  trials.  While  excuse  is  made  for 
the  bitterness  of  his  words,  there  seems  to  be  little 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  327 

that  IS  directly  personal  In  this  or  that  is  really 
addressed  to  auditors. 

Blldad  Is  less  considerate  than  Eliphaz  and  re- 
bukes Job  for  Implying  that  God  is  not  just,  and 
declares  that  if  he  were  pure  and  upright  he  would 
only  have  to  make  his  supplication  to  the  Al- 
mighty and  the  habitation  of  his  righteousness 
w^ould  be  made  prosperous.  He  appeals  to  the 
traditional  doctrine  of  the  fathers  that  those  who 
forget  God  shall  come  to  grief  and  the  lips  of 
the  perfect  man  will  be  filled  with  rejoicing.  Job 
admits  that  "  this  is  so  of  a  truth,"  but  pleads  his 
helplessness  in  conflict  with  such  a  mighty  being, 
whom  he  would  not  answer  though  he  were  per- 
fect, but  to  whom  he  would  address  his  suppli- 
cation as  to  a  judge,  if  he  would  deign  to  hear 
him.  Here  we  have  the  poet,  rather  than  the 
hero  of  the  story,  descanting  upon  the  helpless- 
ness of  suffering  humanity,  with  a  touch  of  the 
philosophy  of  Koheleth,  that  no  distinction  is 
made  between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked  in 
their  treatment  in  this  life.  But  he  makes  his 
embodiment  of  the  suffering  righteous  plead  piti- 
fully that  God  knows  he  is  not  wicked,  that  God 
is  responsible  for  his  existence  and  yet  heaps  suf- 
fering upon  him  and  will  not  allow  him  a  little 
comfort  before  he  goes  to  the  land  of  darkness 
whence  there  Is  no  return. 

This  gives  Zophar,  the  third  of  the  mourners 
and  comforters,  the  youngest  and  most  confident 


328     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

in  his  orthodoxy,  an  opportunity  for  the  sternest 
rebuke  of  this  questioner  of  God's  justice,  who 
dares  maintain  his  own  purity  in  the  face  of  what 
can  only  be  a  punishment  for  some  hidden  wrong- 
doing. His  words  are  a  variation  upon  the  famil- 
iar theme,  the  unsearchable  wisdom  and  justice 
of  God  and  the  certainty  that  one  has  only  to 
put  away  wickedness  to  be  without  fear.  To  this 
Job  makes  a  scornful  reply  and  then  proceeds  him- 
self to  magnify  the  greatness  and  wisdom  of  God, 
which  he  never  questions.  He  understands  all 
this  as  well  as  these  presumptuous  friends,  who 
assume  to  speak  for  God  and  to  contend  in  his 
person.  He  will  face  God  himself.  "  Though 
he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him;  but  I  will 
mention  mine  own  ways  before  him." 

There  is  throughout  this,  as  in  other  similar 
writings,  a  frequent  turning  from  a  reference  to 
the  deity  in  the  third  person  to  a  direct  address  to 
him  in  the  second  person,  and  Job  is  made  to  chal- 
lenge God  for  a  fair  hearing  on  his  case.  He  asks 
to  know  what  his  offence  is  and  why  he  is  treated 
in  this  manner.  He  pleads  on  his  own  behalf  the 
weakness  and  insignificance  of  man,  who  is  of 
few  days  and  full  of  trouble,  who  must  soon  lie 
down  and  sleep  never  to  awake,  and  yet  before 
his  change  come  he  would  have  an  appointed  time 
for  the  vindication  of  his  character.  But  his 
transgression  is  "  sealed  up  in  a  bag  "  and  he  is 
not  permitted  to  know  what  it  is. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  329 

This  desperate  appeal  brings  severe  rebuke 
from  Ellphaz  for  the  presumption  of  one  who 
would  make  such  a  claim  to  righteousness  and 
turn  his  spirit  against  God.  No  living  man 
is  entitled  to  such  a  claim,  and  God's  standard 
is  so  exalted  that  he  puts  no  trust  in  his  own 
"  holy  ones."  Man  Is  at  best  "  abominable  and 
filthy."  Then  the  poet  portrays  again,  as  told 
by  wise  men  from  their  fathers,  the  consequences 
which  Invariably  pursue  the  footsteps  of  the 
wicked.  All  this  the  Impatient  victim  of  re- 
proach has  heard  before  and  needs  not  to  be  told, 
and  after  expressing  his  resentment  at  such 
"  miserable  comforters  "  and  telling  them  that  if 
they  were  in  his  case  he  would  endeavour  to 
strengthen  them  and  assuage  their  grief,  he  re- 
news his  complaint  with  Increased  vehemence  be- 
cause God  has  made  himself  his  enemy,  delivered 
him  to  the  ungodly  and  turned  him  over  to  the 
wicked. 

Here  the  poet  In  the  bitterness  of  the  complaint 
and  the  violence  of  the  language  seems  to  lose 
sight  of  the  personal  case  and  to  plead  the  cause 
of  the  community  of  the  pious  who  are  persecuted. 
It  Is  a  case  of  that  vivid  personification  which  was 
the  chief  characteristic  of  the  Imaginative  writing 
of  the  ancient  Hebrews,  and  then  he  makes  Job 
plead  again  for  a  hearing  with  God,  "  as  a  man 
pleadeth  with  his  neighbour."  Again  he  magni- 
fies his  suffering  and  cries  out  In  despair  that  his 


330    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

hope  will  go  down  to  the  grave  with  him  and  they 
will  rest  together  in  the  dust. 

Then  Bildad  sets  out  with  an  impatient  rebuke 
at  such  an  exhibition  of  Impious  anger,  but  falls 
at  once  into  a  further  reiteration  of  the  fate  of 
the  wicked,  as  if  Job's  experience  were  a  case  in 
point,  which  it  obviously  is  not.  This  shows  how 
impersonal  on  the  whole  these  poetical  discourses 
are,  the  afflictions  of  an  imaginary  character  be- 
ing used  merely  as  the  occasion  for  their  general 
application. 

The  culmination  of  the  great  controversy  really 
comes  in  Job's  answer  to  these  reproaches  in 
chapter  nineteen,  and  the  learned  critics  are  quite 
generally  agreed  that  what  follows  for  several 
chapters  Is  from  a  different  hand  and  much 
marred  by  disarrangement  and  interpolation. 
But  In  this  chapter  nineteen  Is  concentrated  anew 
and  In  tense  language  Job's  complaint  at  the  in- 
fliction of  such  suffering  by  the  Almighty,  although 
he  has  done  nothing  to  deserve  it.  He  cries  out 
In  anguish.  "  Have  pity  upon  me,  have  pity 
upon  me,  O  ye  my  friends,  for  the  hand  of  God 
has  touched  me.'*  But  he  still  not  only  protests 
his  innocence  but  his  faith  that  his  vindication 
will  come  even  In  his  death.  There  has  been 
much  corruption  of  the  original  text  and  per- 
version of  the  real  meaning  of  this  declaration 
of  faith.  There  is  not  in  all  this  sublime  contro- 
versy a  gleam  of  relief  coming  from  a  possible 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  331 

retribution  in  another  life,  for  the  Hebrew  mind 
was  not  open  to  a  belief  in  that  until  later.  If  it 
had  been  accepted,  this  book  would  have  been 
without  reason.  What  Job  is  made  to  say  is  that 
even  if  satisfaction  is  denied  him  until  his  flesh  is 
destroyed,  yet  before  departing  to  the  realm  of 
darkness  he  will  be  permitted  to  see  God  as  his 
vindicator  and  have  assurance  that  his  life  has 
really  been  upright.  In  this  the  writer  probably 
had  in  mind  that  analogy  which  haunted  poet  and 
prophet  in  his  day,  between  the  suffering  righteous 
man  and  the  afflicted  people  whose  life  as  an  or- 
ganised community  was  continually  harried  and 
menaced. 

In  glancing  over  the  next  nine  chapters  we  will 
accept  the  conclusions  of  the  learned  that  they 
make  a  breach  in  the  composition  of  the  author 
of  the  preceding  colloquies,  and  displace  their 
original  continuation,  if  there  was  one.  Perhaps 
there  was  not,  and  it  may  be  that  chapters  twenty- 
nine,  thirty  and  thirty-one  were  the  real  sequel 
to  chapter  nineteen.  At  all  events  there  is  a  dif- 
ference of  tone  and  style  revealed  in  the  interven- 
ing discourses.  That  of  Zophar  is  another  vari- 
ation upon  the  theme  of  the  inevitable  penalties  of 
wickedness,  and  has  no  pertinency  to  what  pre- 
cedes it  and  no  real  pertinency  to  Job's  case  at  all. 
That  of  Job  which  follows  descants  upon  the 
seeming  prosperity  of  the  wicked  and  defers  the 
penalty  of  their  sins  to  their  children.     The  three 


332    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

verses  16-18,  which  break  in  with  a  contradiction, 
are  believed  to  be  an  interpolation  of  some  writer 
who  disapproved  of  the  doctrine  of  visiting  the 
iniquity  of  fathers  upon  the  children.  The  third 
speech  of  Eliphaz  is  hardly  more  pertinent  than 
the  second  of  Zophar  and  treats  of  the  greatness 
and  sure  justice  of  God  in  a  general  way,  as  if 
there  were  no  Job  in  the  case.  The  proverbial 
philosophy  of  the  last  ten  verses  of  chapter 
twenty-two  are  regarded  as  a  later  addition.  The 
next  speech  put  in  the  mouth  of  Job  is  a  weaker 
repetition  of  his  demand  for  a  chance  to  plead 
his  cause,  but  it  does  not  include  chapter  twenty- 
four,  which,  with  the  exception  of  the  last  verse. 
Is  made  up  of  a  series  of  Irrelevant  passages 
loosely  strung  together  and  Interpolated  here. 

If  there  was  a  third  speech  of  Bildad,  It  was  re- 
placed in  chapters  twenty-five  and  twenty-six  by  a 
poem  on  the  greatness  and  power  of  God  which 
has  no  relation  to  the  genuine  colloquies.  Only 
the  first  four  verses  of  the  second  of  these  two 
chapters  belong  to  the  person  of  Job  and  their 
continuation  is  in  the  first  six  verses  and  verse  12 
of  the  next  chapter.  The  rest  of  the  latter  Is  re- 
garded by  a  leading  critical  authority  on  this 
book  as  parts  of  a  lost  speech  of  Zophar.  Of 
one  thing  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Chapter  twenty- 
eight  Is  no  part  of  the  speech  of  Job,  but  is  an 
Independent  poem,  probably  of  later  origin,  on 
the  power  of  man  to  hunt  out  the  treasures  of  the 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  333 

earth,  and  his  Inability  to  find  the  dwelling  place 
of  wisdom,  for  God  alone  "  understandeth  the 
way  thereof  and  he  knoweth  the  place  thereof." 
Of  the  magnificence  of  the  poetry  there  is  no 
question,  and  in  the  description  of  wisdom  there  is 
a  reminder  of  its  personification  in  the  eighth 
chapter  of  Proverbs. 

But  there  is  genuine  Job  again  in  the  three 
chapters  interposed  between  this  and  the  interpo- 
lated discourses  imputed  to  Elihu,  and  these  are 
apparently  from  the  same  hand  as  the  colloquies 
of  chapters  three  to  nineteen,  though  the  passage 
is  somewhat  marred  by  interpolations,  the  most 
noticeable  of  which  consists  of  verses  2  to  8  of 
chapter  thirty,  which  are  of  a  similar  character  to 
those  of  chapter  twenty-four.  In  the  first  of  these 
three  chapters  Job  is  made  plaintively  to  recall 
the  days  of  his  prosperity  and  high  repute,  and  in 
the  s&cond  to  contrast  his  present  condition  of  suf- 
fering and  humiliation.  In  the  third  he  again 
protests  his  freedom  from  Iniquity  and  invokes  the 
most  searching  scrutiny.  Some  authorities  con- 
sider the  verses  as  misplaced  in  which  Job  boldly 
expresses  the  wish  that  the  Almighty  would  an- 
swer his  plea,  but  though  they  break  In  abruptly 
between  verses  34  and  38  of  chapter  thirty-one, 
they  serve  the  purpose  of  preparing  the  way  for 
the  answer  of  the  Almighty  which  would  follow 
here  but  for  the  interruption  of  Elihu,  the  son  of 
Barachel  the  Buzite,  of  the  kindred  of  Ram. 


334    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

Ellhu  was  a  late  comer,  but  his  Intrusion  was 
tolerated  In  the  final  editing  of  the  book  and  the 
putting  upon  It  of  the  seal  of  sanctity  In  the  Jew- 
ish canon.  He  was  not  one  of  the  friends  who 
came  to  mourn  with  Job  and  to  comfort  him. 
He  was  unknown  to  the  original  story,  and  the 
characters  in  it,  who  are  so  boldly  faced,  pay  no 
heed  to  his  words,  and  he  is  not  referred  to  In  the 
epilogue.  Evidently  the  author  of  his  speeches 
had  the  original  colloquies  In  his  hands,  and 
found  the  opportunity  of  adding  to  them,  of 
which  he  took  advantage  because  he  was  not  sat- 
isfied with  the  way  Job  had  been  answered. 
Therefore  he  undertook  the  task  himself.  He 
makes  his  spokesman  admit  that  he  Is  young,  but 
he  claims  to  have  a  special  inspiration  from  the 
Almighty. 

With  much  prolixity  and  assumption  of  supe- 
rior wisdom  he  derides  the  older  men  for  the 
feebleness  of  their  answers  and  condemns  Job 
for  his  presumption  and  for  adding  rebellion  to 
the  Iniquity  which  had  brought  calamity  upon  him 
by  maintaining  his  own  innocence  and  charging 
God  with  injustice.  Having  acquitted  himself  of 
this  duty,  he  Informs  them  that  God  Is  always 
gracious  and  will  deliver  those  who  give  up  their 
wickedness  and  appeal  to  him.  Iniquity  is  no  in- 
jury to  him  and  righteousness  Is  no  profit  to  him, 
but  his  eyes  are  on  the  ways  of  men  and  they  can- 
not   escape    him.     He    strikes    the    wicked    and 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  335 

humbles  the  proud  and  cares  for  the  poor  and  the 
afflicted.  He  chastises  the  offender  to  reclaim 
him,  and  never  fails  to  recompense  all  men  accord- 
ing to  their  deeds.  Elihu  enlarges  upon  this 
theme  and  ends  with  magnifying  the  greatness  and 
power  of  God  In  the  familiar  strain  and  with  con- 
siderable poetical  skill. 

But  there  Is  really  little  added  to  the  argument 
In  support  of  the  orthodox  doctrine.  It  would 
appear  that  the  writer  of  this  passage  did  not 
have  the  closing  speech  attributed  to  "  the  Lord,'* 
or  he  would  hardly  have  presumed  to  describe  his 
attributes  In  so  much  weaker  language  than  that 
which  came  from  his  own  mouth;  and  he  could 
hardly  have  been  familiar  with  the  epilogue,  In 
which  the  Lord  Is  said  to  have  condemned 
Eliphaz  and  his  two  friends  and  commended  Job 
for  speaking  the  thing  that  was  right.  If  he 
knew  of  it  he  treated  It  as  part  of  a  fable  which 
he  was  under  no  obligation  to  heed. 

It  Is  Yahweh,  "  the  Lord,"  who  Is  said  to  have 
answered  Job  out  of  the  whirlwind,  as  it  Is  Yah- 
weh that  figures  in  the  story  contained  in  the  pro- 
logue; but  In  the  poems,  including  the  final  speech, 
th:.i.  term  Is  nowhere  used  and  the  word  translated 
*'  GcJ  "  Is  usually  Shaddal,  Elohlm,  or  Adonal, 
several  Semitic  expressions  for  the  deity.  This 
speech  Is  the  grandest  example  of  Hebrew  poetry 
that  was  preserved  to  us,  and  probably  the  grand- 
est ever  produced;  and  the  author  could  hardly 


336    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

have  been  the  writer  of  any  other  part  of  the 
book,  unless  it  be  the  descriptive  poem  that  con- 
stitutes chapter  twenty-eight  of  the  book.  He 
finds  God  in  the  whirlwind,  and  not,  like  Elijah,  in 
the  "  still  small  voice,"  and  he  makes  of  him  the 
lordly  potentate  of  the  heavens,  the  mighty  power 
that  has  created  the  universe  and  knows  all  its 
secrets  and  in  whose  presence  his  creature  man 
sinks  into  insignificance  and  has  no  right  to  ques- 
tion his  decrees. 

This  is  magnificent  but  It  Is  not  argument  or 
reasoning,  and  it  proves  nothing.  The  man  who 
*'  darkeneth  counsel  by  words  without  knowl- 
edge "  is  overwhelmed  with  a  torrent  of  splendid 
description  of  the  powers  of  God  and  the  gran- 
deur of  his  work,  and  a  grandiose  exaltation  of  his 
might  and  his  wisdom,  and  he  Is  interrogated  as 
to  his  right  to  question  the  doings  of  the  Al- 
mighty, in  a  manner  to  make  him  slink  into  hu- 
miliation, acknowledge  his  vileness  and  lay  his 
hand  upon  his  mouth  and  declare  that  he  would 
proceed  no  further.  Of  the  descriptions  those  of 
the  ostrich  and  of  Behemoth  and  Leviathan  are 
regarded  by  the  most  competent  critics  of  the 
original  production  as  later  interpolations.  They 
certainly  have  little  pertinency  to  the  subject,  ex- 
cept to  add  to  the  list  of  creatures  of  God  that 
man  cannot  control.  Behemoth  and  Leviathan 
are  commonly  regarded  as  meant  for  the  hippo- 
potamus and  crocodile  of  Egypt,  but  as  applied  to 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  337 

them  the  descriptions  would  be  grossly  hyper- 
bolical. The  writer  doubtless  had  them  in  mind, 
but  he  must  also  have  had  vaguely  working  in  his 
thoughts  certain  monsters  of  old  mythology,  one 
of  which  was  regarded  as  the  master  beast  of  the 
land  and  the  other  of  the  sea.  With  that  con- 
ception the  writer  mingled  his  notion  of  the  hippo- 
potamus and  the  crocodile  to  make  a  powerful  de- 
scription. The  names  used  had  no  application  to 
real  animals. 

This  blast  of  language,  imagined  as  proceeding 
from  the  Almighty  in  the  wirlwind,  was  enough 
to  silence  Job  and  make  him  abhor  himself;  and, 
according  to  modern  versions  of  a  corrupt  text, 
to  "  repent  in  dust  and  ashes."  And  yet  it  must 
be  said  that  Job's  complaint  was  not  answered. 
There  was  nothing  In  the  wirlwind  to  convince 
him  that  he  was  wrong  or  to  justify  his  treatment, 
as  a  man  whose  righteousness  was  not  questioned 
by  his  judge.  It  was  simply  the  utterance  of  a 
mighty  potentate  who  tolerated  no  questioning  of 
his  authority  or  his  will,  and  deigned  no  explana- 
tion or  justification  of  his  action. 

This  Is  said,  of  course,  as  holding  this  to 
be  no  specially  divine  utterance  but  the  ex- 
pression of  a  human  mind  that  had  no  solution  of 
the  problem  of  the  Inscrutable  treatment  of 
mankind  by  a  righteous  and  merciful  God. 
No  solution  to  the  problem  appears  In  this 
great   dramatic   poem    and   none   was   really    at- 


338     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

tempted.  None  was  possible  so  long  as  man's 
view  of  his  destiny  and  of  retribution  or  compen- 
sation was  confined  to  his  life  on  earth.  The 
Book  of  Job,  apart  from  its  great  literary  merit, 
IS  of  special  interest  as  reflecting  the  state  of  the 
Hebrew  mind,  after  the  hope  of  national  great- 
ness had  departed  and  religious  faith  had  to  ap- 
ply to  the  conduct  and  the  fate  of  individual  men, 
and  before  it  had  accepted  belief  in  a  continued 
existence  beyond  the  grave. 


XVI 

THE   BOOK  OF   DANIEL 

While  It  took  a  long  and  learned  controversy 
to  settle  the  time  and  place  and  the  real  character 
of  the  production  called  the  "  Book  of  Daniel," 
nothing  has  been  more  clearly  established  than  the 
fact  that  It  is  one  of  the  latest,  if  not  the  very 
latest,  of  the  writings  included  In  the  scriptures 
which  the  Jews  held  sacred.  There  Is  no  other 
the  date  of  which  Is  so  surely  determined.  It  was 
certainly  written  In  the  distressful  period  of  the 
oppression  of  the  Jews  by  Antlochus  IV  (EpI- 
phanes),  the  Syrian  monarch  and  their  sovereign, 
who  strove  to  extinguish  the  cult  of  Judaism  In 
his  dominion  and  replace  It  with  that  of  Greece. 
It  was  after  the  altar  of  burnt  offering  had  been 
desecrated  with  sacrifices  to  Zeus  Olymplus,  whose 
image  was  erected  In  the  temple,  the  Incident  char- 
acterised as  the  "  abomination  that  maketh  deso- 
late," and  before  the  insurrection  started  by  the 
father  of  the  "  Maccabees  "  had  led  to  the  res- 
toration of  the  Jewish  worship.  The  year  165, 
B.  C,  Is  reasonably  calculated  as  the  time  of  the 
appearance  of  the  book,  the  purpose  of  which  was 
not  to  recount  or  record  or  to  predict  history,  but 

339 


340    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

to  stimulate  the  faith,  to  encourage  the  resistance 
and  sustain  the  hopes  of  the  struggling  people. 

This  is  not  one  of  the  prophetic  books,  and  It 
was  not  originally  admitted  to  the  second  Canon, 
the  Nebiim,  or  Prophets,  but  to  the  third,  or 
Haggada  (holy  writings).  Its  subsequent  trans- 
fer and  classification  among  the  works  of  the 
"  Greater  prophets,"  was  due  to  the  false  notion 
that  it  was  the  production  of  a  prophet  named 
Daniel,  who  foresaw  and  prefigured  future  events. 
There  Is  no  evidence  of  a  prophet  of  that  name 
In  the  history  of  Israel,  but  It  appears  to  have 
been  a  revered  name,  as  It  Is  used  by  Ezekiel,  with 
those  of  Noah  and  Job,  as  a  type  of  the  righteous 
of  the  past,  unless,  indeed,  as  some  scholars  have 
contended,  the  name  In  "  Ezekiel "  should  be 
Enoch.  At  all  events,  the  name  Is  used  In  this 
book,  not  because  Daniel  was  the  author  of  It  or 
the  character  bearing  the  name  was  a  real  person, 
but  because  it  was  a  revered  name  or  appropriate 
for  its  significance. 

That  the  book  Is  In  no  sense  historical  In  Its 
reference  to  events  or  Its  portrayal  of  the  time  to 
which  it  purports  to  relate  is  sufficiently  evident 
from  the  character  of  the  contents;  but  the  author 
displays  an  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  past  his- 
tory which  he  attempts  to  project  upon  the  screen 
as  future,  from  the  standing  place  of  his  hero, 
and  he  shows  a  complete  unconcern  about  histor- 
ical   accuracy.     He    starts    off    with    a    statement 


THE  BOOK  OF  DANIEL  341 

that  Nebuchadrezzar,  King  of  Babylon,  besieged 
Jerusalem  in  the  third  year  of  King  Jehoiakim  of 
Judah,  and  carried  away  a  part  of  the  vessels  of 
the  house  of  God  and  some  captives,  "  of  the 
king's  seed,  and  of  the  princes,"  and  young  men 
who  were  to  be  of  service  in  his  palace,  "  well- 
favoured  and  skilful  in  all  knowledge,  and  cun- 
ning in  knowledge  and  understanding  science." 
This  was  to  prepare  the  way  for  stories  of  cer- 
tain of  these  captives  and  for  the  use  of  the  temple 
vessels  at  Belshazzar's  feast;  but,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  there  was  no  siege  and  capture  at  Jerusalem 
in  the  reign  of  Jehoiakim,  and  the  third  year  of 
that  reign  came  before  the  accession  of  Nebu- 
chadrezzar to  the  throne  of  Babylon. 

But  the  purpose  was  to  make  heroes  of  Daniel 
and  three  other  of  these  imaginary  captives  in 
stories  illustrating  the  superior  character  and 
ability  of  the  Jews  and  the  care  which  their  God 
exercised  over  them  among  the  powerful  heathen 
and  would  exercise  over  his  devout  worshippers 
In  their  trials  at  all  times  and  in  all  places.  The 
impression  made  upon  the  King  of  Babylon  by 
these  young  Jews,  the  manner  in  which  he  trusted 
and  promoted  them  to  high  places,  and  the  way 
in  which  the  power  of  their  God  was  displayed 
and  acknowledged  by  the  greatest  potentate  of  the 
time,  reminds  the  attentive  reader  of  the  exalta- 
tion of  Esther  and  Mordecai  and  the  favour 
shown   the   Jews   at   a    later   time   by   the   great 


342     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

monarch  of  the  Persian  empire.  The  stories  are 
in  one  case  as  imaginative  and  just  as  credible  as 
in  the  other,  but  in  both  they  have  a  purpose  which 
was  not  that  of  historical  record. 

Daniel  and  his  three  companions  at  the  luxuri- 
ous court  of  Babylon,  at  the  height  of  the  power 
of  Nebuchadrezzar,  are  made  the  special  care  of 
the  God  of  Israel,  who  gave  them  their  goodly 
favour  upon  a  diet  of  pulse  and  water,  and  their 
remarkable  knowledge  and  skill.  The  first  dis- 
play of  what  in  those  days  was  regarded  as  the 
height  of  all  wisdom,  the  power  to  recover  and  in- 
terpret the  king's  vanished  dream,  has  a  direct 
bearing  upon  the  revealing  purpose  of  the  book, 
which  is  developed  in  the  last  half  in  apocalyptic 
visions.  Here  one  of  the  many  historical  errors 
of  the  book  appears,  first  in  using  the  term  "  Chal- 
deans "  as  synonymous  with  magi  at  Babylon  in 
the  time  of  its  kings,  whereas  it  was  only  so  used 
by  the  Greeks  and  Romans  at  a  much  later  time; 
and  then  in  assuming  that  the  Syriac  or  Aramaic 
tongue  of  the  writer's  own  time  and  country  was 
the  language  of  the  Chaldeans.  Having  started 
by  putting  that  language  in  the  mouth  of  the 
"  Chaldeans,"  the  writer  kept  up  its  use  through 
the  subsequent  narratives  and  the  first  of  the 
visions,  after  which  he  reverts  to  the  Hebrew  of 
the  introductory  chapter.  This  has  led  to  much 
controversy  over  a  diversity  of  material  and  a  dif- 
ference of  authorship  in  the  book.     Such  there 


THE  BOOK  OF  DANIEL  343 

may  have  been,  but  It  has  a  unity  of  character  and 
consistency  of  purpose  which  Indicate  that  In  Its 
final  form  It  was  the  work  of  a  single  mind. 

The  Interpretation  of  the  king's  dream  Itself 
involves  a  historical  error  which  appears  again  In 
the  visions.  It  assumes  four  successive  kingdoms 
or  sovereignties  before  the  time  of  the  Seleucldae, 
those  of  Babylon,  Media,  Persia  and  Greece,  the 
first  symbolised  In  the  head  of  gold,  the  second 
In  the  breast  and  arms  of  silver,  the  third  In  the 
belly  and  thighs  of  brass,  and  the  fourth  In  the  legs 
of  iron,  which  terminated  in  the  incohesive  feet  of 
iron  and  clay,  representing  the  Seleucids  of  Syria 
and  the  Ptolemies  of  Egypt.  There  never  was 
any  rule  of  the  Medes  at  Babylon  or  over  Syria, 
for  Cyrus,  the  Persian  who  overthrew  the  Baby- 
lonian power,  had  merged  Media  in  his  own  em- 
pire ten  years  before.  What  the  dream  is  made 
to  foreshadow  is  the  destruction  of  all  these  suc- 
cessive kingdoms  with  "  the  stone  cut  out  without 
hands,"  which  was  to  become  a  great  mountain 
and  fill  the  whole  earth.  This  prefigures  the  tri- 
umph of  Israel  and  the  setting  up  of  a  kingdom 
by  "  the  God  of  heaven,"  which  should  never  be 
destroyed,  but  should  break  In  pieces  and  consume 
all  these  other  kingdoms  and  Itself  stand  forever. 

Though  this  dream  and  its  interpretation  had 
such  an  efiect  upon  the  great  king  of  Babylon  that 
he  fell  upon  his  face  and  worshipped  Daniel  and 
acknowledged  his  God  as  a  *'  God  of  Gods  and  a 


344    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

lord  of  kings,"  It  did  not  prevent  him,  according 
to  the  next  story,  from  setting  up  an  image  of  gold 
more  than  a  hundred  feet  high  and  eleven  feet 
wide  and  requiring  everybody  to  fall  down  and 
worship  it  on  pain  of  being  cast  into  a  "  burning 
fiery  furnace."  It  would  be  a  sufficiently  unlikely 
thing  for  a  great  king  to  do,  but  it  served  the 
purpose  of  exhibiting  In  a  striking  fashion  the  care 
of  Israel's  God  over  his  own  worshippers  who  had 
the  courage  and  fidelity  to  refuse  to  fall  down 
before  a  golden  Image  at  the  command  of  the 
greatest  of  earthly  rulers.  It  also  had  the  effect 
of  making  Nebuchadrezzar  again  acknowledge 
the  God  of  the  Israelites  and  make  an  extraordi- 
nary decree  that  anybody  who  "  spake  anything 
amiss  "  against  him  should  be  cut  in  pieces. 

But  even  this  was  not  sufficient.  The  proud 
king  had  to  be  humiliated  by  being  degraded  to 
the  condition  of  a  brute  for  seven  years,  by  way 
of  finally  convincing  him  of  the  power  and  ever- 
lasting dominion  of  the  "  most  high  "  and  Inducing 
him  to  "  praise  and  extol  and  honour  the  king  of 
heaven,  all  whose  works  are  truth  and  his  ways 
judgment;  and  those  that  walk  In  pride  he  is  able 
to  abase."  It  need  hardly  be  said  that  there  was 
no  historical  basis  for  this  alleged  episode  in  the 
life  of  Nebuchadrezzar.  All  the  solemn  discus- 
sion upon  that  subject  and  upon  a  malady,  such 
as  he  is  said  to  have  been  smitten  with,  having 
the  Imposing  name  of  lycanthropy,  is  simply  gro 


THE  BOOK  OF  DANIEL  345 

tesque.  The  account  of  the  Imaginary  episode  be- 
gins and  ends  In  the  form  of  a  proclamation  by 
the  king  himself,  but  In  a  most  Incongruous  man- 
ner It  shifts  from  a  decree  Into  the  narrative  of 
a  dream  and  of  the  Interpretation  of  the  dream  by 
Daniel,  and  a  description  in  the  third  person  of 
the  king's  degradation.  This  can  hardly  be  called 
skilful,  but,  in  a  time  when  such  things  were  easily 
accepted  and  believed  in  any  form,  It  served  Its 
purpose  of  impressing  those  for  whom  it  was  In- 
tended with  faith  that  the  God  of  Israel  could 
and  would  humble  the  most  powerful  of  kings  and 
destroy  the  greatest  nations  In  order  to  rescue  his 
people. 

The  tale  of  Belshazzar's  feast  and  the  writing 
on  the  wall  was  Intended  to  account  for  the  de- 
struction of  Belshazzar's  kingdom  and  the  succes- 
sion of  the  supposed  empire  of  the  Medes,  the 
immediate  occasion  being  the  desecration  of  the 
precious  vessels  of  the  temple  as  drinking  cups 
for  the  king's  revellers  and  concubines.  It  does 
not  greatly  matter  that  Nebuchadrezzar  had  no 
son  by  the  name  of  Belshazzar,  that  no  son  of 
his  succeeded  him  on  the  throne,  that  Belshazzar 
the  son  of  Nabonidus,  his  real  successor,  was  never 
king,  that  when  Babylon  finally  fell  It  was  at  the 
hand  of  Cyrus  the  Persian  and  not  Darius  the 
Mede,  and  that  no  such  monarch  as  Darius  the 
Mede  is  known  to  history.  This  story  Is  not  his- 
tory, and  Its  author  was  far  from  caring  about 


346     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

historical  accuracy.  He  was  still  making  Daniel 
the  medium  of  a  wisdom  higher  than  man's  in  de- 
ciphering the  cryptic  inscription  of  the  phantom 
hand  and  announcing  the  doom  of  the  kingdom; 
and  even  Bclshazzar  is  made  to  heap  honour  upon 
him  for  that  dubious  service,  in  return  for  which 
he  was  slain  that  night  and  **  Darius  the  Mede 
took  the  kingdom,  being  about  three  score  and 
two  years  old."  This  latter  detail  gave  an  extra 
touch  of  realism  to  an  imaginary  person. 

It  was  this  imaginary  Median  king  of  Babylon, 
with  the  familiar  name  of  a  Persian  of  a  later 
time,  who  set  a  hundred  and  twenty  princes  and 
three  presidents  over  his  vast  kingdom  and  placed 
Daniel  at  the  head  of  them  all,  as  l^haraoh  placed 
Joseph  over  all  Egypt  and  as  Ahasuerus  raised 
Mordccai  to  the  most  exalted  place  in  the  Persian 
empire,  to  the  everlasting  glory  of  the  Jew  and 
his  race.  Having  done  this  he  was  induced  by 
the  jealous  presidents  and  princes  to  make  a  fool- 
ish decree,  which  was  to  be  as  unchangeable  as 
the  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  that  anyone 
who  should  "  ask  a  petition  of  any  man  or  God 
for  thirty  days,"  except  himself,  should  be  cast 
into  the  ikn  of  lions.  We  all  know  that  story  and 
its  result,  and  again  the  greatest  potentate  on 
earth  is  made  to  acknowledge  the  "  living  God," 
whose  dominion  was  to  be  "  unto  the  end,"  and  to 
addrc  ss  a  decree  to  "  all  people,  nations  and  lan- 
guages that  dwell   in  all  the  earth,"  commanding 


THE  BOOK  OF  DANIEL  347 

them  to  "  tremble  and  fear  before  the  God  of 
Daniel."  "  So  this  Daniel  prospered  In  the  reign 
of  Darius  and  in  the  reign  of  Cyrus."  The  first 
real  Darius  who  reigned  in  that  kingdom  was  the 
successor  of  Cambyses  the  son  of  Cyrus,  and  came 
to  the  throne  more  than  a  hundred  and  eighty 
years  after  that  mythical  siege  of  Jerusalem  which 
resulted  in  carrying  Daniel  and  his  companions  to 
Babylon. 

After  these  tales  for  the  glorification  of  Israel's 
God  and  the  encouragement  of  his  people  in  their 
dire  struggle  against  the  Syrian  oppressor  Anti- 
ochus  Epiphanes  (the  illustrious),  we  have  the 
first  of  the  apocalyptic  visions  attributed  to  Daniel. 
It  occurred  in  the  first  year  of  the  mythical  king 
Belshazzar.  After  the  statement  that  Daniel  had 
''  a  dream  and  visions  of  his  head  upon  his  bed,'* 
and  that  he  wrote  it  down  and  ''  told  the  sum  of 
the  matters,"  the  account  proceeds  in  the  first  per- 
son as  the  spoken  words  of  the  dreamer.  The 
four  beasts  grotesquely  described  as  coming  up  out 
of  the  sea  represent,  like  the  Image  of  Nebuchad- 
rezzar's dream,  the  four  kingdoms  which  had  suc- 
cessively ruled  Babylon  and  its  subject  nations,  the 
second,  or  that  of  the  Medes,  having  really  never 
existed.  The  fourth  beast  with  his  terrible  teeth 
of  iron  and  his  trampling  upon  the  nations  is  Alex- 
ander of  Macedon,  whose  eastern  conquests  were 
divided  up  after  his  death.  There  Is  nothing 
exact  about  the  number  ten  of  the  horns  which 


348     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

represent  the  kings  that  followed,  or  the  three  that 
were  plucked  up  by  the  little  horn  with  eyes  and 
a  mouth,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  this  little  horn, 
which  spake  great  things  and  prevailed  against  the 
saints,  was  meant  for  Antiochus.  The  purpose  of 
the  vision  is  to  prefigure  the  God  of  Israel  as  the 
'*  Ancient  of  days  "  coming  to  judgment,  with  one 
*' like  the  son  of  man  "  appearing  in  the  clouds 
of  heaven  to  receive  the  dominion  that  was  to  be 
taken  away  from  the  beasts.  Like  the  stone  that 
was  cut  out  without  hands  to  destroy  the  image 
of  Nebuchadrezzar's  dream  and  to  fill  the  whole 
earth,  this  foreshadowed  the  rule  of  God's  people, 
which  was  to  extend  under  the  whole  heaven  and 
be  an  everlasting  kingdom. 

Two  years  later,  or  in  the  third  year  of  Bel- 
shazzar,  there  was  another  vision  of  like  signifi- 
iance*  Though  Belshazzar  has  been  described  as 
a  Babylonian,  preceding  the  conquest  attributed  to 
Darius  the  Mede,  this  is  said  to  have  taken  placd 
in  *'  Shushan  the  palace,"  a  phrase  in  the  story  of 
Esther  for  the  dwelling  place  of  the  Persian  king 
Ahasuerus,  or  Xerxes.  "Shushan"  was  in  fact, 
the  equivalent  of  Susa,  the  capital  of  Persia  in  the 
time  of  Cyrus  and  his  successors.  The  ram  with 
two  horns  is  the  Medo-Persian  empire,  which  never 
existed,  but  of  which  the  Persian  horn  outgrew 
the  other ;  and  the  formidable  he-goat  is  the  Mace- 
donian conqueror  again.  Again  also,  when  its 
great  horn,  Alexander,  was  broken,  four  "  notable 


AHKHE  book  of  DANIEL  349 

horns  "  came  up  in  its  place  and  the  arrogant  little 
horn  sprang  up  and  waxed  great  "  toward  the 
south  and  toward  the  east  and  toward  the  pleasant 
land."  Here  again  we  have  the  tyrant  Antiochus 
dragging  down  some  of  the  host  of  heaven  and  of 
thet  stars,  aiid  stamping  upon  them.  Unquestion- 
ably the  description  refers  to  the  ruthless  persecu- 
tion by  which  the  Syrian  king  tried  to  crush  out 
the  Jewish. worship,  when  he  suppressed  the  daily 
sacrifice  In  the ,  temple  and  set  up  the  altar  of 
Olympian  Zeus  In  place  of  that  of  the  burnt  offer- 
ing. The  horror  of  this  desecration  to  the  devout 
of  Israel  itj  is  easy  to  Imagine;  but  it  could  not 
b[$|:.?rlts  end  is  predicted  In  the  vision  as  to  come 
in  two  thousand  and  three  hundred  days,  when 
the  sanctuary  would  be  cleansed. 

The  Imagery  of  these  visions,  like  that  of 
Ezekiel,  Is  borrowed  from  Chaldean  art;  and  the 
angel  Gabriel,  notwithstanding  his  Hebrew  appel- 
lation (man  of  God),  Is  a  creature  of  heathen 
mythology,  unknown  to  earlier  priests  and  prophets. 
He  Is  made  to  explain  the  appearance  of  the  ram 
with  two  unequal  horns  and  the  he-goat  with  one 
great  horn  between  his  eyes,  and  to  tell  of  the 
king  of  fierce  countenance  who  was  to  destroy  the 
mighty  and  the  holy  people.  This  king  would 
stand  up  against  the  prince  of  princes,  meaning 
the  mighty  ruler  of  these  people,  and  he  *'  shall  be 
broken  without  hand."  This  again  is  the  hated 
Antiochus  who,  the  faithful  among  the  *'  saints  " 


350    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

must  believe,  would  be  destroyed  for  his  presump- 
tion by  their  '*  King  of  heaven." 

After  presenting  these  visions  of  hope  the  writer 
undertakes,  before  a  final  vision  of  triumphant 
promise,  to  calculate  in  a  Delphic  manner  the  time 
that  must  elapse  before  the  great  deliverance.  He 
now  places  his  hero  in  the  first  year  of  Darius, 
whom  he  calls  the  son  of  Ahasuerus  of  the  seed  of 
the  Medes.  This  is  the  same  Ahasuerus  that 
figures  in  the  story  of  Esther  and  stands  for  the 
Xerxes  of  the  Greeks.  He  was  a  Persian  and  not 
of  the  seed  of  the  Medes,  and  his  reign  began 
more  than  fifty  years  after  Cyrus  had  conquered 
Babylon.  Moreover,  he  was  the  son  and  not  the 
father  of  the  real  Darius.  This  is  another  of 
those  historical  incongruities  which  do  not  matter 
in  a  work  of  this  character.  There  was  no  first 
year  of  Darius  in  the  period  from  which  the 
writer  projects  his  calculations,  but  that  fact  has 
no  relation  to  his  figures. 

He  takes  the  seventy  years  which  Jeremiah 
Is  represented  as  predicting  for  the  servitude 
of  the  nations  to  the  king  of  Babylon,  as 
seventy  *' weeks  "  (of  years),  or  seventy  times 
seven  years.  Reckoning  from  the  supposed 
first  year  of  Darius,  he  makes  that  the  period 
for  the  "  accomplishment,"  or  completion,  of  the 
*'  desolation  of  Jerusalem  "  In  the  destruction  of 
the  oppressor  against  whom  his  people  were  strug- 
gling as  he  wrote.     Preliminary  to  an  explanation 


THE  BOOK  OF  DANIEL  351 

by  the  angel  Gabriel  of  this  period  of  weeks,  he 
makes  Daniel  set  his  face  "  unto  the  Lord  "  and 
utter  a  prayer,  which  is  patterned  upon  that  of  the 
priest  Ezra  when  he  discovered  that  the  Jews  at 
Jerusalem  had  been  intermarrying  with  the  people 
of  the  land,  and  that  of  the  Levites  at  the  fast 
and  the  confession  of  the  people  when  the  law 
book  was  read,  as  related  in  "  Nehemiah." 

According  to  Gabriel's  explanations  seven  of  the 
weeks  of  years  cover  the  actual  exile  down  to  the 
release  by  Cyrus,  and  sixty-two  more  come  down 
to  the  cutting  off  of  the  "  anointed  one,"  which 
refers  to  the  slaying  of  the  high  priest  Onias  in 
171  B.  C.  This  brings  us  to  the  last  week  of 
seven  years,  in  which  the  people  of  the  detested 
"  prince  "  would  destroy  the  city  and  the  sanctu- 
ary. But  his  end  would  "  come  with  a  flood,  and 
even  unto  the  end  shall  be  war."  For  half  the 
week  he  would  cause  the  sacrifice  and  the  oblation 
to  cease,  but  wrath  would  be  poured  upon  the 
desolator.  The  chronology  is  altogether  imper- 
fect, but  that  did  not  signify  then  and  signifies 
less  to  us.  It  was  at  the  beginning  of  this  last 
seven  years  that  Antiochus  plundered  the  temple, 
and  It  was  about  the  middle  of  that  period,  in 
168  B.  C,  that  the  worship  was  suppressed,  the 
law  book  was  burnt,  and  sacrifices  to  Zeus  and 
the  Olympian  gods  were  forced  upon  the  Jews, 
which  led  to  the  rash  deed  of  Mattathias  at 
Modein  and  the  insurrection  which  was  kept  up 


35 2    THE  ■  GREAT  EPIC  OF  OOSRAEL 

by  his  five  sons  until  the  Jewish  community  wa-s 
freed  from  the  domination  of  the  Syrian  kings. 
•idiThe  temple  worship  was  restored  as  the  result 
of  victories  by  Judas  Maccabaeus  in  ■  165,  and 
whether  this  book  was  written  shortly  before  or 
soon  after  that  event  is  not  certain.  If  before, 
the  author  -  already; rfeltb confident  of  'the  result. 
The  calculation  of  times  is  the  prelude  of  a  vision 
said  to  have  occurred  in  the  third  year  of  Cyrus 
at  Babylon,  which  was  seventy  years  after  that 
third  of  Jeholakim  in  which  Daniel  is  supposed  to 
have  been  brought  from  Jerusalem.  This  vision 
does  not  appear  in  a  dream,  but,  after  a  fast,  and 
by  the  river  Tigris.  In  character  it  is  siniilar  to 
those  of  Ezekiel  by  "the  river  Chebar.'-  This  is 
a  vision  of  promise  of  coming  relief.  The  super- 
natural being  who  makes  the  revelation,  clothed  in 
linen,  with  a  body  like  beryl^^a  If  ace  like  lightning, 
ieyes;as  lamps  of  fire,  and  feet  like  polished  brass, 
recounts  what  purports  to  be  the  coming  history 
from  the  third  year  of  Cyrus  through  the  Grecian 
conquest;  the  breaking  up  of  the  kingdom  and  the 
varying  contests  between  the  Seleuclds  and  the 
Ptolemies.  There  are  allusions  to  events,  pur- 
posely made  obscure,  since  they  purport  to  pre- 
figure in.  vague  .outline;  what  is  assumed^  t6  be  in 
the  far  future.  It  all  leads  up  to  the  pollution 
of  the  sanctuary,  the  taking  away  of  the  daily 
sacrifice  and  the  setting  up  of  "  the  abomination 
that  maketh  desolate.^'     The  reference  to  Anti- 


JH/THE  BOOK  OF  DANIEL  353 

ochus  is  again  unmistakable  in  the  king  that  was 
to  exalt  and  magnify  himself,  speak  marvellous 
things  against  the  God  of  gods,  and  prosper  "  till 
the  indignation  be  accomplished."  His  exploits 
are  alluded  to  In  ambiguous  terms,  but  it  is  said 
"he  shall  come  to  his  end  and  Hone  shall  help 
.bim." 

I  .  In  that  direful  time  of  trouble  such  as  never 
was  since  there  was  a  nation,  Michael  "  the  Great 
prince  that  standeth  for  the  children  of  thy  peo- 
ple," would  stand  up,  and  everyone  that  was 
"  found  written  in  the  book  "  would  be  delivered. 
Even  many  of  those  who  had  fallen  or  perished  in 
the  struggle  and  slept  in  the  dust  of  the  earth,  would 
awake,  "some  to  everlasting  life  and  some  to 
shame  and  everlasting  contempt,  and  they  that  be 
wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament 
and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  as  the 
stars  forever  and  ever."  This  was  to  come  in 
titat  •distant  future  prefigured  from  the  time  of 
Cyrus,  but  the  writer  forgets- or -disregards  the 
point  of  view  of  his  Daniel's  vision  In  enigmatically 
figuring  out  that  it  would  be  a  "  time,  times  and  a 
half,"  meaning  apparently  three  years  and  a  half, 
when  "  all  these  things  shall  be  finished."  Again 
it  is  said,  looking  forward  as  to  a  far  future,  that 
from  the  time  that  the  daily  sacrifice  shall  be  taken 
away  and  the  abomination  that  maketh  desolate 
set  up  there  shall  be  "  twelve  hundred  and  ninety 
days,"  but  he  was  to  be  blessed  that  "  waiteth  and 


354    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

Cometh  to  the  thousand,  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  days."  And  Daniel  was  to  ^'  rest,"  but  would 
stand  in  his  lot  "  at  the  end  of  the  days." 

All  this  is  sufficiently  vague  as  prophecy  of  com- 
ing events,  but  the  events  which  came  were  quite 
different  from  those  anticipated  by  the  pious  vision- 
ary who  wrote  the  book.  The  temple  service  was 
indeed  restored.  Antiochus  Epiphanes  perished 
the  next  year,  and  there  was  a  radical  turn  in 
events.  But  what  the  enthusiast  of  the  tales  of 
wonder  and  the  visions  of  promise  looked  for  was 
not  the  triumphs  of  arms  of  Judas  and  the  long 
struggle  that  resulted  in  the  priestly  kingdom  of 
the  Maccabees,  which  finally  succumbed  to  the 
Roman  power  when  Pompey  carried  his  conquests 
over  the  East.  These  were  human  events  such  as 
were  continually  overwhelming  the  undying  hopes 
of  Israel.  He  looked  for  that  long  deferred  in- 
terposition of  Israel's  God  in  behalf  of  his  people 
which  was  to  destroy  their  enemies  and  set  up  the 
kingdom  that  would  be  everlasting  and  would  draw 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  under  its  sway. 

The  great  epic  finds  a  fitting  close  in  these 
visions,  which  predicted  not  only  an  end  of  the 
persecutions  and  afflictions  that  beset  the  people  of 
God  at  that  time  of  tribulation,  but  a  realisation 
of  all  the  hopes  of  the  past  in  that  glorious  and 
everlasting  kingdom,  promised  to  the  people  of 
Abraham  and  the  house  of  David  by  the  Lord 
himself,  and  cherished  in  all  the  dreams  of  proph- 


THE  BOOK  OF  DANIEL  355 

ecy.  Human  events  took  their  destined  way  and 
the  Messianic  kingdom  of  Israel  came  not  then  or 
afterwards.  But  the  promise  and  the  hope  took  a 
mystical  turn  and  out  of  them  arose  a  new  faith. 
Unwittingly  the  unknown  author  of  the  Book  of 
Daniel  sowed  the  seeds  of  a  new  doctrine  of  the 
Messiah,  or  anointed  one,  and  of  the  resurrection 
of  those  who  sleep  In  the  dust  of  the  earth,  when 
his  kingdom  should  be  established. 


>^r        mwiAG  -^o  :Hooa  3HT 

bne  vi>v/  ijijsuj^^b  liarii  5I00J  ajn^va  n£muH     .p3 

m  n^di  ion  5fn£D  fsBial  \o  mob§nli  omnhao^h/i  arii 

>qofI  3fi}  LnB  38ifnoiq  0A1  luH      .ebiEvnallB 

^o  ->looa  Df!if  I0  V--  -olnii  ^fl:l  vit|ni«iwnU 

3fll  ^o  3ni-i^|ii>  GREAT  EPIC  m  '^vteW^^^  binsG 
noi733iiU83T  3fii  \o  bnc  ^^no  b^JnionB  lo  ^dnh^^lA 

If  we  read 'attentively  this  mas^  of 'ancient  lit- 
erature, which  a  large  part  of  mankind  have 
deemed  sacred  for  so  many  centuries,  and  as  nearly 
as  may  be  in  the  order  of  its  development  and  by 
the  light  thrown  upon  it  by  modern  historical  and 
literary  research,  more  intent  and  persistent  than 
has  been  bestowed  in  any  other  field  of  human 
study  except  that  of  the  science  of  nature,  we  must 
conclude  that  it  is  not  amiss  to  call  it  the  epic 
of  a  remarkable  people.  So  considered,  it  is  the 
greatest  of  epics,  not  only  from  its  character,  but 
from  the  manner  of  its  production.  It  is  so  be- 
cause it  was  not  the  product  of  any  one  great 
genius  or  of  any  one  group  of  men  of  genius,  but 
was  wrought  over  and  over  from  accumulating 
material  and  accumulating  experience  through  a 
period  of  nearly  a  thousand  years.  It  is  not  the 
work  of  individual  or  personal  genius,  but  of  the 
genius  of  a  peculiar  people,  and  is  the  expression 
of  their  character  and  their  growth  through  the 
vicissitudes  of  more  than  that  millenium. 

It  began,  as  all  surviving  literatures  have  begun, 
with  oral  traditions  and  legends  of  the  heroes  and 

356 


THE  GREAT  EPIC  IN  REVIEW     357 

leaders  of  the  people  in  their  primitive  days. 
These  were  embodied  at  first  in  stories  and  songs 
and  chants,  a  form  most  readily  transmitted  from 
generation  to  generation  before  writing  came  into 
use.  When  reflection  succeeded  to  mere  memory 
and  imagination,  the  creative  minds  sought  for  the 
origin  of  their  people  and  of  other  peoples,  and 
for  the  origin  of  the  world  itself.  Having  no 
science  and  little  knowledge  except  that  which  came 
to  them  from  their  surroundings  and  from  cori- 
tact  with  other  peoples,  they  wrought  from  imagi- 
nation and  reflection  the  myths  of  ancestry  and 
of  the  creation  of  the  world  and  its  inhabitants, 
using  such  material  and  such  ideas  as  came  to 
them.  The  religious  instinct  is  one  of  the  earliest 
gifts  of  humanity,  and  out  of  the  mysterious  pow- 
ers of  nature  it  wrought  the  deitieii*^'^^  ^^X  ^  ^*"^ 
i  In  this  respect  the  Hebrews  did  not  differ  from 
other  ancient  peoples.  When  they  were  settled 
in  the  land  which  they  had  conquered,  and  through 
struggle  and  discipline  had  become  a  nation,  they 
had  legends  and  traditions  which  they  began  to 
reduce  to  writing,  and  they  produced  myths  to 
account  for  the  origin  of  their  tribes,  the  origin 
of  their  race  and  of  all  mankind,  and  the  origin 
of  the  earth  and  the  heavens.  They  had  their 
conception  of  deity,  rude  at  first,  with  a  god  of 
their  own,  different  from  other  gods  and  an  em- 
bodiment of  their  own  ideals  of  power  and  char- 
^acten-i-  At  first  it  was  not  without  the  accompani- 


358     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

ment  of  minor  deities.  Their  monotheism  was  a 
growth.  In  their  myth-making  they  were  not 
wholly  original.  Israel  was  not  so  old  a  people 
or  so  isolated  as  we  have  been  wont  to  think. 
There  were  ancient  civilisations  on  either  side  of 
the  land  upon  which  they  entered  after  a  long 
contest  with  its  occupants  and  their  neighbours, 
long  before  they  became  a  nation  or  even  a  con- 
geries of  related  tribes  and  clans.  There  had 
been  communication  between  the  Nile  and  Euphra- 
tes valleys  and  over  the  intervening  lands  for  ages, 
and  Egypt  and  Chaldea  had  each  ruled  over  the 
region  which  Israel  seized  in  an  interval  when  no 
great  power  held  sway  there. 

The  first  writers  of  Hebrew  myth  and  story 
were  not  unacquainted  with  the  lore  of  Babylon 
and  Tyre  and  Thebes,  and  they  borrowed  freely 
from  it;  but  they  had  powers  and  qualities  of  their 
own  which  moulded  all  material  to  their  purpose, 
creating  a  literary  garb  for  their  thought  and  their 
imaginmgs  of  many  colours  and  varied  texture.  A 
dominating  characteristic  of  their  genius  was  a 
peculiar  pride  of  race,  a  sense  of  the  superiority 
of  Israel  over  all  other  peoples.  Their  God  was 
not  the  only  god,  but  the  greatest  and  mightiest 
of  all  gods,  and  he  had  chosen  his  people  from 
the  elect  of  the  earth.  In  time  he  would  make 
them  the  rulers  of  the  earth  and  subject  all  others 
to  them.  It  was  after  the  kingdom  had  been 
established  and  the  reign  of  David  and  Solomon 


THE  GREAT  EPIC  IN  REVIEW    359 

had  nourished  this  pride  to  the  full,  that  work 
upon  the  epic,  or  the  material  that  was  to  com- 
pose it,  began. 

The  kingdom  had  been  divided  and  myths  and 
legends  floated  among  the  clans  of  both  realms, 
Joseph,  or  Ephraim,  and  Judah.  Some  time,  prob- 
ably, in  the  eighth  or  ninth  century,  B.  C,  these 
were  first  wrought  into  a  continuous  narrative  of 
the  creation  of  the  earth  and  the  human  race,  the 
generations  that  followed,  the  fatal  tendency  of 
man  to  evil,  the  destruction  of  all  but  one  family, 
the  new  start  with  a  divergence  upon  the  racial 
lines  then  known,  and  the  consecrated  ancestry  of 
the  people  of  Israel  and  their  several  branches. 
In  this  free  use  was  made  of  suggestions  from 
Babylonian,  Egyptian  and  Phoenician  lore.  Tra- 
ditions of  a  sojourn  within  the  borders  of  Egypt, 
of  oppressive  servitude  there,  and  of  revolt  and 
deliverance  under  a  great  leader,  were  woven  into 
the  story,  which  was  brought  down  to  the  invasion 
and  conquest  of  the  lands  on  either  side  of  the 
Jordan  valley.  There  were  various  versions  of 
some  of  the  stories  and  they  became  blended  into 
one  continuous  but  not  altogether  harmonious  ac- 
count in  the  course  of  time.  That  was  subject  to 
revision  by  a  succession  of  writers,  copying,  re- 
trenching, expanding  and  modifying  to  suit  their 
own  conceptions. 

The  conception  of  deity  developed  with  the  in- 
tellectual and  moral  growth  of  the  people.     The 


36o    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL* 

suave  and  manlike  being  who  walked  In  the  garden' 
In  the  cool  of  the  day  to  see  what  his  newly  cre^ 
ated  man  was  doing,  and  who  talked  with  Abra- 
ham and  made  a  bargain  with  him,  became,  irl  the 
time  of  deliverance  of  his  people,  the  fierce  divinity 
of  Mount  Sinai,  who  vented  his  wrath  upon  Egypt 
and  awed  the  refugees  under  the  dehverer  into 
submission  with  smoke  and  flame  and  the  voice  of 
thunder  on  the  mountain  top.  Through  the  inva- 
sion and  conquest  of  the  land  he  had  promised  to 
the  seed  of  Abraham  he  was  a  god  of  battles,  giv- 
ing victory  to  his  people  so  long  as  they  obeyed  his) 
chosen  leaders,  and  overwhelming  their  enemies,' 
Like  other  gods  of  the  time  he  was  an  imaginary 
being,  the  creation  of  pxbets  and  philosophers,  such 
as  p)oets  and  philosophers  then  were.  At  one 
time,  and  until  it  was  seen  that  this  led  too  easily 
to  the  adoption  of  other  gods,  he  was  represented 
by  Images  and^  symbols  and  was  consulted  by 
mechanical  devices  and  oracles.  For  centuries  he 
was  worshipped  with  bloody  sacrifices  and  offerings 
after  the  manner  of  all  ancient  peoples  who 
''feared  "their  gods.  The  period  of  servitude  in 
Egypt,  whatever  it  may  have  been,  of  escape  there- 
from, of  struggle  through  the  deserts  of  Arabia 
and  gradual  conquest  of  the  lands  which  became 
the  kingdoms  of  Israel  and  Judah,  was  covered 
with  the  mist  of  antiquity  when  the  first  writers 
began  their  work,  and  they  necessarily  depended 
upon  imagination  in  detailing  events.     They  made 


THE  GREAT  EPIC  IN  REVIEW    361 

110  clear  distinction'  between  what  they  knew  and 
what  they  thought,  and  they  believed  the  one  as 
implicitly  as  the  other.  It  is  the  way  with  the 
primitive  mind  and  is  largely^sa  with  the  Oriental 
mind  even  now.  .HDnbon-;;   pWi  -u.;   v  .^  ^ 

2'fiThe  first  great  uplift  in-moral  and  religious 
conceptions  came  with  the  prophets  who  rose  when 
the  nations  of  Jacob  were  in  peril  from  powerful 
enemies,  which  was  not  long  after  the  development 
of  the  myths  and  legends  of  Israel's  antiquity^ 
The  prophets  exalted  the  conception  of  deity  into 
a  being  not  only  of  infinite  power  but  of  infinite 
justice  and  goodness,  but  he  was  still  the  special 
God  of  Israel,  and  was  given  to  wrath  when  he 
was  not  obeyed  and  to  mercy  when  penitently  ap- 
pealed to.  He  would  use  his  power  over  other 
nations  to  punish  or  reward  his  own  people  accord^ 
ing  to  their  behaviour  towards  him.  Under  the 
infiu^nGe  of  the  earlier  prophets,  the  literature  that 
was  copied,  ekpanded  and  joined  together  from 
time  to  time,  took  on  the  colour  of  their  teaching. 
This  was  deepened  and  made  more  pervasive  after 
the  Northern  Kingdom  had  been  destroyed  by 
Assyria  and  the  other  was  menaced  by  Babylonia. 
In  the  period  from  Amos  to  Jeremiah  the  material 
of  the  epic  was  wrought  upon  in  the  spirit  of  the 
prophet,  but  it  was  far  from  completed. 
'  After  the  powers  of  the  East  had  destroyed 
Jerusalem  and  trampled  upon  the  "  holy  moun- 
tain "  of  Zion,  and  the  brains  of  Judah  had  been 


362     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

carried  to  Babylon,  this  material  underwent  a 
notable  transformation  and  expansion.  The  fact 
that  Israel's  God  had  failed  to  save  his  people 
from  their  enemies  did  not  shake  their  faith  in  his 
power  or  his  goodness.  It  was  due  entirely  to 
disobedience  to  his  commands  and  infidelity  to  his 
worship.  It  was  what  had  been  threatened 
through  his  prophets  and  was  a  deserved  punish- 
ment for  the  nation's  sins.  All  that  was  neces- 
sary now  for  restoration  to  favour  and  the  ful- 
filment of  promise  of  greatness  in  the  time  to  come 
was  repentance  and  amendment.  In  the  fifty  years 
of  exile,  prolonged  indefinitely  for  some,  there  was 
much  preparation  for  a  new  life  and  character  for 
Israel.  It  was  not  to  become  a  mighty  nation 
with  a  glorious  king  of  the  house  of  David,  as  it 
vainly  hoped,  but  it  was  to  become  a  closely  organ- 
ised religious  community  that  would  exercise  a 
powerful  influence  over  other  nations  for  many 
centuries,  and  through  them  over  all  mankind  for 
all  time. 

In  the  development  and  solidification  of  that 
community  there  was  an  elaborate  expansion  of 
laws,  of  ceremonies  and  observances,  which  were 
deemed  necessary  to  bind  it  together  and  keep 
it  from  contamination  by  evil  Influences  within  and 
without.  Such  laws  and  regulations  as  custom  and 
necessity  had  established  in  early  days  had  been 
associated  by  the  first  writers  with  commands  of 
the  God  Yahweh  in  the  wilderness  of  Sinai  after 


THE  GREAT  EPIC  IN  REVIEW    363 

the  deliverance  from  Egypt.  This  was  to  give 
them  a  solemn  sanction  and  impose  obedience,  and 
from  that  time  Moses  was  made  the  law-giver  as 
well  as  deliverer.  Whatever  was  promulgated 
was  represented  as  having  come  down  from  the 
sojourn  in  the  wilderness  as  commands  of  the 
Almighty  through  the  leader  of  the  Exodus.  Not 
only  was  this  the  case  with  the  terms  of  the  "  cov- 
enant "  embodied  in  the  early  narratives  and  the 
code  inspired  by  the  prophets  and  made  known  in 
the  time  of  Josiah,  but  with  the  whole  Levitical 
system  developed  after  the  exile.  A  new  frame- 
work of  primitive  history  was  made  for  this,  but 
It  was  afterwards  Interlaced  with  the  old  narra- 
tives. In  an  unskilful  effort  at  a  homogeneous  struc- 
ture. 

In  the  process  of  recension  of  what  was  to  pass 
for  history  that  which  Is  now  known  as  the  his- 
torical and  critical  spirit  was  entirely  absent. 
There  was  no  effort  to  ascertain  facts  and  narrate 
them  with  fulness  and  accuracy.  In  the  use  of 
existing  material  there  was  no  scruple  about  modi- 
fying and  adapting  It  to  suit  the  views  and  pur- 
poses of  the  later  writers.  In  this  there  was  no 
consciousness  of  misrepresentation  or  desire  to  de- 
ceive, but  each  compiler  wrought  with  a  sad  sin- 
cerity to  set  forth  what  to  him  was  truth.  The 
result  was  not  history,  so  far  as  facts  and  events 
are  concerned,  but  after  all  it  afforded  a  picture 
of  the  life  and  growth  of  the  people  more  vivid 


364    THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

when  clearly  viewed  than  if  it  had  been  presented 
in  prosaic  annals  from  careful  records. 

Some  of  the  finest  literature  of  this  wonderful 
mass  was  wrought  in  the  pious  community,  sub- 
ject to  foreign  power  and  beset  with  many  troubles, 
after  the  return  from  captivity  by  the  streams  of 
Babylon.  In  that  nest  of  religious  meditation  and 
aspiration  in  and  about  the  sacred  city  of  the  kings 
and  prophets  were  bred  not  only  priests  and 
scribes  but  religious  poets  and  philosophers. 
There  most  of  the  psalms  were  produced  which 
were  used  in  the  service  of  the  humble  temple  that 
took  the  place  of  the  gorgeous  fane  of  Solomon, 
where  worship  had  meant  chiefly  sacrifices  and 
placatory  offerings.  There  wise  sayings  of  the 
past  were  collected  and  hidden  in  a  treasury  of 
new  wisdom,  the  fruit  of  discipline  and  experi- 
ence. There  was  no  pride  of  authorship,  no  sense 
of  literary  property,  and  it  was  the  custom  to 
attach  revered  names  to  the  rolls  that  were  stored 
In  the  treasury  of  books,  made  up  from  old  and 
new  material.  As  the  name  of  Moses  was 
attached  to  the  laws  from  the  earliest  to  the  latest, 
so  far  as  they  were  preserved,  so  the  name  of 
David  was  associated  with  the  psalms  and  songs 
of  praise  and  the  music  of  the  temple  service,  and 
proverbs  and  wise  sayings  received  the  sanction 
of  the  name  of  Solomon,  to  whom  all  worldly 
wisdom  had  been  Imputed. 

The  names  of  the  great  prophets  were  used  with 


THE  GREAT  EPIC  IN  REVIEW    365 

equal  freedom.  Among  the  treasured  rolls  of 
manuscript  cherished  through  the  exile  were  many 
passages  of  what  they  wrote  or  what  had  been 
written  by  others  from  their  remembered  speeches. 
These  were  in  much  disorder  and  difficult  to  iden- 
tify. When  they  were  transcribed  many  mistakes 
were  made  in  arrangement  and  in  ascription  to 
different  sources;  but  there  was  no  solicitude  on 
that  score.  This  or  that  would  be  freely  attrib- 
uted to  a  great  prophet  of  whom  it  was  deemed 
worthy,  without  serious  thought  upon  the  question 
of  genuineness  or  authenticity.  Additions,  inter- 
polations and  modifications  would  be  made,  the 
better  to  fit  the  material  to  the  purpose  of  the  latest 
scribe,  without  the  least  consciousness  of  literary 
or  ethical  wrong-doing.  Hence  it  comes  that  the 
great  *'  books  "  of  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  are  com- 
posite productions,  made  up  of  imperfectly 
arranged,  roughly  connected  or  crudely  blended 
material,  ranging  from  their  own  time  to  the  clos- 
ing of  the  canon  of  the  prophets.  But  the  dom- 
inating genius  of  the  prophets  whose  names  they 
b;ear  shaped  the  composition  of  these  volumes, 
which  have  challenged  the  keenest  powers  of  criti-j 
cal  analysis  in  modern  learning. 

What  stands  under  the  names  of  other  prophets 
may  not  be  wholly  theirs  and  even  the  names  may 
not  be  those  of  actual  men.  It  is  the  substance 
not  the  authorship  that  made  them  sacred  in  the 
es.tiraatipn  of  scribes.,     Some  marvellous  storie.s> 


366     THE  GREAT  EPIC  OF  ISRAEL 

obviously  fictitious  and  to  the  modern  mind  incred- 
ible, were  preserved  for  the  lessons  or  instruction 
they  were  assumed  to  convey;  and  some  precious 
fragments,  not  in  entire  keeping  with  the  "  doc- 
trine "  of  the  time,  were  preserved  by  association 
with  names  that  gave  them  sanctity.  So  the  epic 
was  wrought  to  completion,  massive,  conglomerate, 
amorphous,  inartistic,  but  Imposing,  with  much 
that  is  precious  to  mankind  mingled  in  its  great 
bulk  with  much  of  grosser  quality,  the  deposit  of 
centuries  In  which  the  treasures  were  stored.  Los- 
ing the  cement  of  sanctity  It  may  disintegrate,  but 
that  which  is  precious  can  never  be  lost.  The 
worst  that  can  befal  it  Is  to  yield  to  the  test  of 
modern  knowledge  and  reason  and  submit  to  the 
judgment  of  common  sense,  which  discriminates 
values  and  holds  to  that  which  is  good.  Thereby 
It  win  gain  and  not  lose  as  a  source  of  edification 
and  inspiration  In  man's  religion.  It  closes  with 
visions  of  the  future,  but  vision  Is  enlarged  since 
the  time  of  Daniel. 


THE  END 


INDEX 


Aaron,   mythical  ancestor  of 

priesthood,  248,  260. 
Abner,     David's     lament     at 

death  of,   107. 
Abijah,   or  Abijam,   King  of 

Judah,    126;   account  of  in 

Chronicles,  267. 
Abimelech  of  Gerar,  relations 

with    Abraham    and    Isaac, 

60. 
Abram,  or  Abraham,  mythical 

ancestor   of   Israel,   30,  31, 

47  et  seq.,  58 ;  compact  with 

Yahweh,  30,  31,  59. 
Absalom,    son    David,    revolt 

of,  107. 
Adam  and  Eve,  myth  of,  30. 
Adonijah,  son  of  David,  plots 

to  succeed  father,  iii. 
Ahab,  King  of  Israel,  marries 

Phoenician  princess  Jezebel, 

127;  war  with  Syria,   131; 

killed     at     Ramoth-Gilead, 

134- 

Ahasuerus,  King  of  Persia, 
sames  as  Xerxes,  character 
in  story  of  Esther,  284; 
reference  to  in  Daniel,  350. 

Ahaz,  King  of  Judah,  alliance 
against,  by  Israel  and  Syria, 
saved  by  Assyria,  145;  ac- 
count of  his  reign  in 
Chronicles,  274. 

Ahaziah,  King  of  Israel,  134; 
offense  that  caused  his 
death,  135. 

Ahaziah  of  Judah,  in  battle 
at  Ramoth-Gilead,  140. 

Ahijah,  prophet,  predicts  di- 
vision   of    Kingdom,    118; 


367 


predicts  death  of  Jero- 
boam's child,  125. 

Alexander  of  Greece,  allu- 
sions to  in  Book  of  Daniel, 
348. 

Amaziah,  King  of  Judah,  de- 
feated by  Hazael  of  Syria, 
143;  account  of  in  Chron- 
icles, 273. 

Amon,  King  of  Judah  two 
years,  150. 

Amos,  prophet,  time  of  ap- 
pearance, 2^ ;  his  oracles, 
164. 

Angel,  as  messenger  of  Yah- 
weh, 7. 

Antiochus  Epiphanes,  allu- 
sions to,  in  Book  of  Daniel, 
347  et  seq. 

Araunah,  threshing  floor  of, 
site  of  Temple,  no. 

Ark  of  Covenant,  or  Ark  of 
God,  capture  by  Philistines, 
83 ;  removal  to  Jerusalem, 
103. 

Asa,  King  of  Judah,  charac- 
ter of  reign,  126;  account 
in  Chronicles,  268. 

Asaph,  as  putative  author  of 
psalms,  296,  298. 

Asher,  son  of  Jacob,  mythical 
ancestor  of  tribe,  53. 

Assyria,  destruction  of  Sa- 
maria by,  144;  attack  upon 
Jerusalem,  147. 

Athaliah,  daughter  of  Ahab 
and  Jezebel,  queen  at  Jeru- 
salem, 141,  271. 

Azariah,  or  Uzziah,  King  of 
Judah,  smitten  with  leprosy. 


368 


INDEX 


143;  account  of  in  Chron- 
icles, 271. 

Baal,  worship  of  and  conflict 
with  that  of  Yahweh,  127, 
129;  slaughter  of  prophets 
of  by  Elijah,  129;  worship- 
pers slaughtered  by  Jehu, 
141 ;  worship  destroyed  at 
Jerusalem,  142. 

Baasha,  King  of  Israel,  126, 
268. 

Babylon,  subjugates  Assyria, 
defeats  Egypt,  and  makes 
Judah  vassal,  154;  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem,  154;  first 
deportation  to,  182;  exile 
in,  192;  release  from,  209, 
25s;  allusion  in  Daniel, 
341  et  seq. 

Babylonia,  ancient  civiliza- 
tion, 3;  source  of  various 
myths,  45. 

Balaam,  discourse  of,  17;  two 
accounts  of  "  cursing,"  71. 

Bath-Sheba,  relations  with 
David,  105. 

Belshazzar,  story  of  feast 
fictitious,  345;  never  King 
of  Babylon,  346. 

Benhadad,  King  of  Syria, 
war  with  Ahab  of   Israel, 

131- 

Benjamin,  v^rarlike  tribe, 
youngest  son  of  Jacob,  54. 

Benjamite  War,  mixed  ac- 
count in  Book  of  Judges, 
81. 

Bildad,  character  in  Job,  327, 
330,  332. 

"  Blessing  of  Jacob,"  ancient 
poem,  17,  288;  use  of  tribal 
names,  55. 

*'  Blessing  of  Moses,"  person- 
ification of  tribes  in,  56. 

Book  of  Covenant,  first  ap- 
pearance, 21 ;  content,  230. 

Book  of  Law,  "  discovered " 
in  temple,  21,  151 ;  that 
brought   from   Babylon  by 


Ezra,  243 ;  as  name  of  Pen- 
tateuch, or  Books  of 
Moses,  first  Canon,  30. 

Book  of  the  Upright,  or 
Jasher,  17. 

Book  of  the  Wars  of  Yah- 
weh, 17. 

Brazen  Serpent,  destroyed  in 
time  of  Hezekiah,  140,  147. 

Canaan,  won  by  conquest,  49, 

74- 

Canon,  first,  book  of  the  law, 
30;  second,  prophets,  33; 
third,  sacred  writings,  38. 

Carchemish,  scene  of  battle 
between  Nebuchadrezzar 
and  King  of  Egypt,  154. 

Chronicles,  compilation  of, 
39;  character  and  contents, 
259;  genealogies  of,  260; 
exaggerations,  264;  unhis- 
torical  quality,  269 ;  view  of 
events  in  retrospect,  t.'j']. 

Creation,  account  of,  of  Chal- 
dean origin,  45. 

Cyrus  of  Persia,  attacks 
Babylon,  209 ;  regarded  as 
instrument  of  Israel's  God, 
211;  release  of  Jewish  cap- 
tives, 212. 

Dan,  tribe  of  Israel,  as  son 
of  Jacob,  53. 

Daniel,  character  in  the  Book 
of  Daniel,  340. 

Daniel,  Book  of,  as  close  of 
Epic,  42;  date  of  produc- 
tion, 339;  not  a  prophetic 
book,  340 ;  unhistorical 
character,  341 ;  purpose,  141 
et  seq. ;  stories,  343  et  seq. ; 
visions,  347  et  seq.;  imper- 
fect chronology,  357 ;  prom- 
ises not  fulfilled,  354;  sug- 
gestions of  Messianic  doc- 
trine, 355. 

Danites,  story  of  migration, 
81. 

Darius,  as  King  of  Babylon 
in  Book  of  Daniel,  346. 


INDEX 


369 


David,  beginning  of  his  King- 
dom, 24;  relation  to  Saul, 
91  et  seq. ;  lament  at  death 
of  Saul  and  Jonathan,  96; 
accounts  of  early  life  leg- 
endary, 97;  character,  99  et 
seq. ;  candid  accounts  of  his 
reign,  104;  barbarism  of  his 
time,   108;   plot  of  his  son 
to  succeed  him,  no;  death, 
in;    account    of    reign    in 
Chronicles,  261 ;  represent- 
ed as  originator  of  temple 
service,   263 ;   his   elegy  on 
Saul    and    Jonathan,    288; 
psalms    attributed   to   him, 
296. 
Deborah,  prophetess,  leads  in 
war     against     Sisera,     78; 
oracular      character,      169; 
song  of,  288. 
Decalogue,    mythical    account 
of  origin,   69;   real  origin, 
233;  two  versions,  233,  234. 
Deity,    early    conceptions,  64, 
65 ;   later   conceptions,    157, 
189;    in   time    of  prophets, 
237;     in     exile,     210;     in 
psalms,    302;    in    proverbs, 
308;   in  Job,   319   et   seq.; 
progressive       development, 
358  et  seq. 
Deuteronomist    writer,    com- 
piler of  Book  of  Kings,  121. 
Deuteronomy,   Book  of,  first 
form,  22]  discovery  in  tem- 
ple, 151;  origin,  235;  char- 
acter and  purpose,  238;  in- 
terpolations  and  additions, 
241. 
Dinah,  daughter  of  Jacob  and 

Leah,  53. 
Ecclesiastes,     Book    of,    late 
production,   313 ;    character 
and  composition,  315. 
Edom,    as   brother   of    Israel 

through  Esau,  50. 
Egypt,  ancient  rule  over  Pal- 
estine, 3;  Israel's  legendary 


servitude  in,  4  ;  learning  de- 
rived   from,    18;    Hezekiah 
sought  aid  of,  146;  alliance 
with,    predicted    in    Isaiah, 
^73',     Judah     tributary     to, 
182 ;    refugees   from   Judah 
in,  186. 
Ehud,  legendary  hero,  77. 
Elah,  King  of  Israel,  127, 
Elihu,   character   interpolated 

in  Book  of  Job,  334. 
Elijah,  time  of  appearance, 
II,  127;  source  of  stories 
about,  128;  acts  attributed 
to,  129  et  seq. ;  mythical 
element  in  accounts,  130; 
carried  away  in  whirlwind, 
136;  as  messenger  before 
the  "  great  and  terrible 
day,"  224. 
Eliphaz,  character  in  Book  of 

Job,  324  et  seq. 
Elisha,  legendary  figure,  12; 
succeeds  to  mantle  of 
Elijah,  130  et  seq.;  miracles 
attributed  to  him,  136,  138; 
in  expedition  against  Moab, 
137;  part  in  war  with 
Syria,  138,  140;  death,  144. 
Elohim,  designation  of  deity, 

6. 
Elohist  "  document,"  time  of 
production,  20,  29;  extent 
of,  30;  beginning  in  Penta- 
teuch, 31 ;  variations  from 
Yahwist,  57;  elements  of  in 
several  books,  66. 
Endor,    women    of,    story    in 

connection  with  Saul,  94. 
Ephraim,   part    of    Kingdom, 
revolt    on    death    of    Solo- 
mon, 118. 
Epic,  The,  material  of,  20-28; 
process   of  production,   29- 
43 ;  review  of  composition, 
356-366. 
Esau,   brother   of  Jacob   and 
mythical  ancestor  of  Edom, 
50,  54;  story  of  birth,  61. 


370 


INDEX 


Esther,  story  of,  date  and 
character,  283;  no  histor- 
ical quality,  284;  mythical 
element,  285 ;  not  an  ex- 
planation of  Purim,  286. 
Exodus,   Book  of,  composite 

character,  66,  68. 
Exodus  from  Egypt,  account 

mainly  mythical,  63,  70. 
Ezekiel,  prophet  of  the  exile, 
23,    194;    character   of   hia 
work,  195;  visions,  symbol- 
isms, etc.,  196-201 ;  denun- 
ciation   of   enemies    of    Is- 
rael, 202;   promise  of  res- 
toration, 204-206;  vision  of 
new  Jerusalem,  207 ;  outline 
of  future  law,  208. 
Ezekiel,  Book  of,  time,  char- 
acter  and    content,    194  et 
seq. 
Ezra,  leader  in  return  from 

exile,  215,  222. 
Ezra,  Book  of,  date  and  com- 
position, 254. 
Flood,  story  of,  30;  Chaldean 
origin,    46;    different    ver- 
sions, 46.        ^ 
Gabriel,  angel  in  the  visions 

of  Daniel,  351. 
Gad,  son  of  Jacob,  mythical 

ancestor  of  tribe,  53. 
Garden  of  Eden,  myth  of,  30; 

Chaldean  source,  46. 
Genealogies,  antediluvian,  de- 
scendants of  Adam,  46;  de- 
scendants of  Noah,  47;  in 
Book  of  Chronicles,  259. 
Gideon,   legend   of,   in  battle 

against  Midianites,  78. 
Golden  Calf,  motive  of  story, 

231. 
Goliath,  Philistine  champion, 

Habakkuk,  prophet,  vision  of, 
178. 

Hagar,  as  mother  of  Ishmael, 
representing  Arabian  peo- 
ple, 59,  60. 


Haggai,    prophet,    vision    of, 

217. 
Haman,  character  in  story  of 

Esther,  285. 
Hazael,  King  of  Syria,   140; 

wars  with  Israel  and  Judah, 

143.. 

Hezekiah,  King  of  Judah,  re- 
forms worship,  146;  at- 
tacked by  Sennacherib  of 
Assyria,  146^;  illness  and 
recovery,  149;  receives 
messengers  from  Babylon, 
149;  death,  150;  account  of 
his  reign  in  Chronicles,  275. 

Hiram,  or  Huram,  of  Tyre, 
assistance  to  Solomon,  113, 
114;  reference  to  in  Chron- 
icles, 2^. 

Hosea,  prophet  of  Israel, 
time  and  oracles,  166;  char- 
acter of  work,  167. 

Hoshea,  last  King  of  Israel, 
144. 

Huldah,  prophetess,  advice  on 
"  book  of  the  law,"  152. 

Human  Sacrifice,  evidence 
of,  9.  ^ 

Isaac,  significance  of  name» 
49 ;  story  of  offering  as  sac- 
rifice, 60. 

Isaiah,  prophet,  time  of  ap- 
pearance, 23,  168;  guide  to 
King  Hezekiah,  146;  al- 
leged prediction  of  destruc- 
tion of  Assyrian  army,  147 ; 
character  of  work,  169; 
later  oracles,  171 ;  treat- 
ment of  Assyrian  menace, 
172;  fate,  174. 

Isaiah,  Book  of,  material 
mixed  and  in  disorder,  163 ; 
ill  arranged,  169;  analysis, 
170;  post-exilic  additions, 
209. 
Ishmael,  mythical  ancestor  of 

Arabian  peoples,  50. 
Israel,  invasion  of  Canaan,  4; 
origin  of  people,  5;  serri- 


INDEX 


371 


tude  in  Egypt,  5;  language 
and  first  writing,  6;  early- 
conceptions  of  deity,  7,  8; 
literary  development,  16  et 
seq. ;  supposed  significance 
of  name,  48;  pride  of  race, 

358. 

Israel,  Kingdom  of,  first  es- 
tablished, 61,  121 ;  changes 
of  dynasty,  123;  destroyed, 
144. 

Issachar,  son  of  Jacob,  myth- 
ical ancestor  of  tribe,  53. 

Jacob,  meaning  of,  48;  per- 
sonification of  Israel,  50; 
union  with  Syria  through 
Laban's  daughters,  51 ;  craft 
of,  51,  54;  mythical  sons, 
S3',  account  of  birth  as 
twin  of  Esau,  61. 

Jehoahaz,  King  of  Judah,  car- 
ried captive  to  Egypt,  153. 

Jehoiachim,  King  of  Judah, 
carried  to  Babylon,  154. 

Jehoiada,  priest,  made  boy 
Joash  King  of  Judah,  142. 

Jehoiakim,  placed  on  throne 
of  Judah  by  King  of  Egypt, 

153- 

Jehoram,  King  of  Israel,  140. 

Jehoram,  or  Joram,  King  of 
Judah,  140;  account  of 
reign  in  Chronicles,  271. 

Jehoshaphat,  King  of  Judah, 
ally  of  Ahab  of  Israel 
against  Syria,  133 ;  ally  of 
Jehoram  of  Israel  against 
Moab,  137;  death  and  suc- 
cessor, 140;  account  of  his 
reign  in  Chronicles,  269. 

Jehoshaphat,  Valley  of,  in 
vision  of  Joel,  225. 

Jehu,  King  of  Israel,  140; 
slaughters  priests  of  Baal, 
141 ;  length  of  reign,  141. 

Jephthah,  hero  in  war  against 
Ammon,  79. 

Jeremiah,  prophet,  time,  23; 
against  resistance  to  Baby- 


lon, 155;  character  of  his 
work,  179;  early  utterances, 
181 ;  relation  to  historical 
events,  182;  carried  to 
Egypt,  186;  intense  theo- 
cratic champion,  188. 

Jeremiah,  Book  of,  composite 
character,  179;  varied  ma- 
terial, 183 ;  late  accretions 
and  interpolations,  187. 

Jeroboam,  son  of  Nebat,  so- 
journ in  Egypt  and  possible 
relation  to  Joseph  story, 
62;  leads  revolt  against 
Solomon,  117;  qualities  as 
first  King  of  Israel  as  dis- 
tinguished from  Judah, 
123;  motive  in  establishing 
places  of  worship,  124. 

Jerusalem,  David  takes  pos- 
session of,  103;  corrupt 
worship  at,  146,  152;  de- 
stroyed by  Nebuchadrezzar 
of  Babylon,  154;  rebuilding 
of  walls  after  exile,  215; 
rebuilding  of  temple,  218. 

Jezebel,  Phoenician  wife  of 
Ahab,  127 ;  threatens  life  of 
Elijah,  130;  prophet  pre- 
dicts her  fate,  132;  thrown 
to  the  dogs,  141. 

Joab,  David's  chief  warrior, 
102;  the  King's  debt  to 
him,  107;  kills  Abner,  Ab- 
salom and  Amasa,  107; 
slain  by  command  of  Solo- 
mon, 112. 

Joash,  made  King  by  priest 
Jehoiada,  142;  different  ac- 
count of  reign  in  Chron- 
icles, 272. 

Job,  leading  character  in 
Book  of  Job,  no  historical 
prototype,  325 ;  possible 
personification  of  suffering 
people,  324;  speeches,  325, 
326,  327- 

Job,  Book  of,  a  composite 
work,  319;  not  witliout  de- 


372 


INDEX 


fects,  320;  voice  of  revolt 
against  theocratic  doctrine 
in  past,  321 ;  time  of  pro- 
duction, 323 ;  character  of 
prologue  and  epilogue,  324; 
problem  of  colloquies,  325 ; 
disordered  passages  and  in- 
terpolations, 332,  333;  Eli- 
hu's  part  later  than  rest, 
334;  Yahweh's  answer,  335; 
problem  left  unsolved,  337. 

Joel,  prophet,  practical  oracle 
of,  224. 

Jonah,  possible  oracle  of  the 
prophet,  164;  story  of,  280; 
real  character  and  purpose, 
281. 

Jonathan,  son  of  Saul  and 
friend  of  David,  90,  91 ; 
death  in  battle,  95. 

Joseph,  as  ancestor  of  North- 
ern Kingdom,  52;  son  of 
Jacob  and  Rachel,  53;  as 
savior  of  family  of  Israel, 
54 ;  story  of,  61. 

Joshua,  Book  of,  material  of, 
33;  mythical  elements,  67, 
72. 

Joshua  or  Jeshua,  priest  on 
return  from  exile,  212,  215, 
218. 

Josiah,  King  of  Judah  at  age 
of  eight,  151 ;  reforms  wor- 
ship at  Jerusalem  and 
"high  places,"  152;  killed 
in  conflict  with  King  of 
Egypt,  153;  account  of  re- 
forms in  Chronicles,  277. 

Judah,  son  of  Jacob,  myth- 
ical ancestor  of  tribe,  53. 

Judah,  Kingdom  of,  after  di- 
vision of  first  Kingdom, 
advantage  over  Israel,  122; 
destroyed  by  Nebuchadrez- 
zar of  Babylon,  155. 

Judges,  Book  of,  composition, 
33;  general  contents,  75; 
when  produced,  76. 

Kingdom,     first     established, 


24;  divided  into  two,  123. 
See  Israel  and  Judah. 

Kings,  first  accounts  of,  19; 
Saul,  85  et  seq. ;  David  and 
Solomon,  98  et  seq. ;  of  two 
Kingdoms,  124  et  seq. 

Kings,  Book  of,  material,  25, 
35  ;  theocratic  character  and 
sources,  36;  general  char- 
acter and  composition,  120, 
121. 

Koheleth,  or  Ecclesiastes,  the 
preacher,  313. 

Korah,  legendary  revolt 
against  Moses,  250. 

Korah,  sons  of,  in  temple 
choirs,  296. 

Laban,  Syrian  father  of 
Jacob's  wives,  51. 

Lamech,  descendant  of  Cain 
and  Seth,  46. 

Lamentations,  Book  of,  com- 
position and  character,  290. 

Law,  Jewish,  beginnings  of, 
21,  22,  26,  68;  fulmination 
on  Mount  Sinai,  69,  230; 
material  and  development 
229-252 ;  Book  of  the  Cove- 
nant and  tables  of  stone, 
230;  Deuteronomic  version, 
235;  outline  by  Ezekiel, 
241 ;  contributions  of  Ezra, 
243  ;  development  in  priests' 
code,  242  et  seq.;  ethical 
principles,  251. 

Leah,  mythical  mother  of 
tribes,  53. 

Legends,  of  time  of  Judges, 
18,  20,  75. 

Legends,  heroic  and  historic, 
general  account,  74-97. 

Levi,  son  of  Jacob,  mythical 
ancestor  of  tribe,  53. 

Levite  of  Bethlehem-Judah, 
story  of,  81. 

Levites,  ministers  of  worship, 
putative  descendants  of 
Levi,  248. 


INDEX 


373 


Leviticus,  Book  of,  character 
and  contents,  245  et  seq. 

Literature,  of  Israel,  begin- 
ning of,  16;  development, 
17  et  seq. ;  active  produc- 
tion in  exile,  192. 

Lot,  nephew  of  Abraham, 
mythical  ancestor  of  Am- 
mon  and  Moab,  50. 

Lyrics,  songs  and  hymns,  287- 
304 ;  general  character,  287 ; 
Song  of  Deborah,  Blessing 
of  Jacob,  Song  of  Moses, 
288 ;  passages  in  prophecies, 
289 ;  Lamentations,  290 ; 
Song  of  Songs,  293; 
Psalms,  295. 

Maccabees,  relation  to  Book 
of  Daniel,  339,  351,  354. 

Malachi,  prophecy,  date  and 
character,  222. 

Manasseh,  King  of  Judah, 
long  and  wicked  reign,  150; 
different  account  in  Chron- 
icles, 276. 

Menahem,     King    of    Israel, 

143. 

Merodach-Baladan,  of  Baby- 
lon, sends  messengers  to 
Hezekiah,  149. 

Messiah,  suggestion  of  in 
Zechariah,  228 ;  doctrine 
foreshadowed     in     Daniel, 

355. 

Micah,  prophet,  time  and  ora- 
cles, 174. 

Micah,  Book  of,  composition, 

Michael,    angel    in   vision   of 

Daniel,  353. 
Midianites,     slaughtered     by 

Gideon,  78. 
Miriam,      sister     of     Moses, 

story  of  leprosy,   70. 
Moab,    putative    offspring    of 

Lot,  50. 
Moab,  King  of,  sacrifices  son 

when    defeated    in    battle, 

137. 


Mordecai,  character  in  story 
of  Esther,  284. 

Moses,  as  putative  author  of 
Jewish  law,  32,  69;  in  re- 
lation to  Deuteronomy, 
151 ;  in  relation  to  later 
law,  230;  as  legendary  de- 
liverer, 63. 

Mount  Sinai,  theophany  on, 
229. 

Myths,  as  basis  of  early  nar- 
ratives, 20,  66;  general  ac- 
count of,  44-73 ;  those  pre- 
liminary to  Abraham,  47 ; 
of  tribal  ancestry,  48. 

Naaman,  story  of  cure  of 
leprosy,  138. 

Naboth,  story  of  vineyard 
taken  by  Ahab,  132. 

Nahash,  King  of  Ammon,  de- 
feated by  Saul,  86. 

Nahum,  prophet,  visions  of 
vengeance  upon  Assyria, 
175- 

Naphtali,  son  of  Jacob,  myth- 
ical ancestor  of  tribe,  53. 

Nathan,  prophet  and  mentor 
of  David,  10;  promise  of 
permanent  Kingdom,  99, 
103  ;  rebuke  for  wrong  done 
to  Uriah,  105,  160. 

Nebuchadrezzar,  King  of 
Babylon,  makes  vassal  of 
King  of  Judah,  154;  de- 
stroys Jerusalem,  155 ;  as 
he  appears  in  Book  of  Dan- 
iel, 341,  344. 

Nehemiah,  cup  bearer  of  Ar- 
taxerxes,  represents  Per- 
sian authority  at  Jerusa- 
lem, 215 ;  work  in  rebuild- 
ing walls,  etc.,  257. 

Nehemiah,  Book  of,  compo- 
sition and  character,  257. 

Noah,  Yahweh's  covenant 
with  after  flood,  46;  as  fa- 
ther of  Canaan,  46;  gene- 
alogy of  descendants,  47. 


374 


INDEX 


Numbers,  Book  of,  character 
and  contents,  248,  249. 

Obadiah,  vision  of,  226. 

Omri,  King  of  Israel,  builds 
Samaria,  127. 

Othniel,  first  of  heroic  de- 
liverers of  Israel,  'j'j. 

Passover,  celebration  by  Jo- 
siah  at  Jerusalem,  153;  ac- 
count in  Chronicles,  277. 

Patriarchs,  stories  of,  30. 

Pekah,  King  of  Israel,  assas- 
sinated, 144. 

Pekahiah,  King  of  Israel,  as- 
sassinated, 143. 

Pentateuch,  origin  and  com- 
position, 30-32. 

Pharaoh-necho,  of  Egypt,  ex- 
acts   tribute    from    Judah, 

153. 

Philistines,  capture  the  "  Ark 
of  God,"  83;  Saul's  battles 
with,  90,  94;  David's  rela- 
tion with,  93. 

Phoenicia,  early  Hebrew  writ- 
er's acquaintance  with,  18. 

Priestly  History,  of  Judah 
and  antecedents,  255-^77 ; 
its  date  and  purpose,  253; 
memoirs  of  Ezra  and  Ne- 
hemiah,  254,  257;  Book  of 
Chronicles,  259. 

Priests'  Code,  as  element  in 
Pentateuch,  32,  66,  68,  70; 
element  in  Book  of  Joshua, 
'jZ'i  completion  of,  243; 
character  of  work,  244. 

Prophets,  early  character,  10; 
time  of  Ahab,  11;  highest 
development  of  work,  22; 
minor,  24;  collection  of 
oracles,  '^j. 

,  of  two  Kingdoms,  158- 

191 ;  original  character, 
158;  Deborah,  Samuel,  159; 
Nathan,  Ahijah,  160;  use 
of  symbohsm,  160;  utter- 
ances disarranged  as  col- 
lected,    162;     Amos,     164; 


their  theocratic  faith,  166; 
Hosea,  166;  Isaiah,  168; 
Jeremiah,  178;  theocratic 
doctrine,  179,  189;  ethical 
conceptions,  190. 

of  exile  and  after,  192- 

228;  Ezekiel  and  his  work, 
194-208 ;  supplementary 

chapters  of  Isaiah,  209; 
Haggai  and  Zechariah,  218; 
Malachi,  222;  last  chapters 
of  Zechariah,  226. 

Proverbs,  collection  of,  40. 

Proverbs,  Book  of,  when  col- 
lected, 305 ;  several  collec- 
tions, 306;  relation  to  Solo- 
mon, 306;  general  charac- 
ter, 307;  conception  of 
deity,  308;  philosophy,  308; 
analysis  of  book,  310;  sup- 
plementary chapters,  312. 

Psalms,  Book  of,  repository 
of  Sacred  Songs,  28,  40; 
how  constituted  and  when, 
295  ;  several  collections,  296 ; 
meaning  of  titles,  297,  299; 
used  in  temple  service,  300; 
real  character,  301 ;  concep- 
tion of  deity,  302 ;  univer- 
sal  significance,  303. 

Pul,  Assyrian  general,  same 
as  King  Tiglath-Pileser, 
144. 

Rachel,  as  mother  of  tribes, 

S3- 

Ramoth-Gilead,  scene  of  bat- 
tles between  Israel  and 
Syria,  133,  140. 

Rebekah,  personification  of 
Israel's  relation  to  Syria, 
50;  Yahwist  account  of 
wooing  for  Isaac,  60. 

Rehoboam,  weak  successor  of 
Solomon,  116;  slight  ac- 
count of  his  reign  in 
Kings,  126 ;  fuller  account 
in  Chronicles,  267. 

Reuben,  oldest  of  Israelite 
tribes,  52. 


INDEX 


375 


Reubenites,  legendary  revolt 
against  Moses,  249. 

Rizpah,  hanging  of  her  sons, 
108. 

Ruth,  idyl  of  the  time  of  the 
Judges,  written  after  the 
exile,  278;  purpose  and 
character  of  the  story,  279; 
not  authentic  account  of 
descent  of  David,  280. 

Sacred  Writings,  third  Canon 
of   Scripture,   3S. 

Samaria,  built  by  Omri,  127; 
destroyed  by  Assyrians,  144. 

Samson,  story  of,  80. 

Samuel,  seer  or  prophet,  dif- 
ferent accounts  of,  82 ;  said 
to  have  judged  Israel,  84; 
makes  Saul  King  of  Israel, 
86;  condemns  and  rejects 
him,  88;  anoints  David,  96. 

Samuel,  Book  of,  varied  ma- 
terial, 35,  85,  94;  legendary 
character,  82 ;  inconsistent 
accounts  of  making  Saul 
King  of  Israel,  84;  accounts 
of  David  as  outlaw  and  as 
King,  99  et  seq. 

Sargon,  of  Assyria,  destroys 
Samaria  and  the  Kingdom 
of  Israel,  144. 

Satan,  appears  only  in  Job, 
Zechariah   and    Chronicles, 

323- 

Saul,  made  King  of  Israel, 
mixed  accounts,  84-87;  at- 
tempt to  reconcile  different 
versions,  88;  victories  over 
Philistines,  90;  death,  95; 
character  of  his  rule,  97. 

Sennacherib,  King  of  As- 
syria ;  attack  upon  Jerusa- 
lem, 146;  defeat  by  Ethi- 
opian army,  and  death  at 
Nineveh,  148 ;  version  of 
Chronicles,  275. 

Servant  of  Yahweh,  person- 
ification of  suffering  people, 
213. 


Shallum,  King  of  Israel  one 
month,  143. 

Shamgar,  legendary  hero  who 
"  saved  Israel,"  75. 

Sheba,  Queen  of,  visits  Solo- 
mon, 116. 

Shechem,  attack  upon  by  sons 
of  Jacob,  53. 

Simeon,  mythical  ancestor  of 
tribe,  53. 

Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  story 
of  destruction  of,  59. 

Solomon,  King,  time  of  his 
reign,  25,  iii;  composite 
account,  112;  extent  of  his 
realm,  113  ;  building  of  tem- 
ple and  palace,  114;  extrav- 
agant statements  of  wis- 
dom, wealth,  and  power, 
115;  invocation  at  dedica- 
tion of  temple,  115;  expe- 
dition to  Ophir  and  visit  of 
Queen  of  Sheba,  116;  ef- 
fect of  prosperity  and  lux- 
ury, 116;  revolt  against, 
117;  division  of  Kingdom 
attributed  to  his  sins,  117; 
death,  _  119;  account  of  in 
Chronicles,  265 ;  not  author 
of  Proverbs,  306. 

Song  of  Deborah,  288. 

Song  of  Moses,  288. 

Song  of  Songs,  structure  and 
character,  293. 

Syria,  mythical  relation  to 
Israel,  50,  51 ;  at  war  with 
Kingdom  of  Israel,  131, 
'^33,  138,  140;  alliance  with 
Israel  against  Judah,  145. 

Tables  of  Stone,  account  of, 
69,  230. 

Temple  at  Jerusalem,  build- 
ing by  Solomon,  113;  re- 
building after  exile,  254; 
account  of,  in  Chronicles, 
264. 

Ten  Commandments,  what 
they  were,  232;  as  applied 
to  Decalogue,  233,  234. 


37.6 


INDEX 


Tent  of  Meeting,  prototype 
of  later  temple,  245. 

Theocracy,  doctrine  of,  13; 
development  by  prophets, 
22,  24,  179,  189;  problem 
of  in  Book  of  Job,  321. 

Tiglath-Pileser,  King  of  As- 
syria, makes  vassal  of  Is- 
rael, 144,  171 ;  account  in 
Chronicles,  274. 

Two  Kingdoms,  theocratic  ac- 
count of,  120  et  seq. ;  im- 
perfect chronology,  121 ; 
confusion  of  narratives, 
143- 

Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  mythical 
source  of  ancestors  of  Is- 
rael, 49. 

Uriah,  the  Hittite,  treatment 
of,  by  David,  96. 

Urim  and  Thummim,  means 
of  consulting  Yahweh,  used 
by  David,  96. 

Uzziah,  King  of  Judah,  same 
as  Azariah,  143,  ^^z- 

Wisdom  Books,  303. 

Worship,  early  form,  10; 
form  set  up  by  Jeroboam, 
at  Bethel  and  Dan,  123; 
corrupt  form  at  Jerusalem, 
126;  conflict  between  that 
of  Yahweh  and  Baal,  127, 
129 ;  Hezekiah's  reforms, 
146;  heathen  manner  in 
Manasseh's  reign,  150;  Jo- 
siah's  reforms,  152;  devel- 


opment after  the  exile,  263 ; 
use  of  psalms,  295. 

Yahweh,  name  for  deity,  7; 
use  in  Book  of  Job,  335. 

Yahwist  writing,  or  '*  docu- 
ment," time  of  production, 
20,  29;  extent  of,  30;  per- 
sonification of  tribes,  57; 
variations  from  Elohist, 
60;  elements  in  several 
books,  (i^;  account  of  pro- 
mulgation of  law,  229. 

Zebulun,  mythical  ancestor 
of  tribe,  53. 

Zechariah,  prophet,  visions  of, 
219,  221. 

Zechariah,  Book  of,  two 
parts,  visions,  222;  supple- 
mentary chapters,  227. 

Zechariah,  King  of  Israel,  as- 
sassinated, 143. 

Zedekiah,  last  King  of  Judah, 
154;    carried    to    Babylon, 

155- 

Zephaniah,  prophet,  his  men- 
ace of  calamity,  177. 

Zerubbabel,  last  of  line  of 
David,  leads  return  from 
exile,  212,  215 ;  connection 
with  rebuilding  temple,  220; 
disappears  from  history, 
221. 

Zimri,  King  of  Israel  seven 
days,  127. 

Zophar,  character  in  Book  of 
Job,  ZT.T,  331,  ZZ'2' 


DATE  DUE 

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The  great  epic  of  Israel;  the  web  of 

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